Here is a little secret, the candidate lost his home due to a foreclosure....
Oh good he’s one of us!
You bring up an excellent point. The more we get away from the old way of doing things, with the party doing at least some of the work of vetting candidates, the more that responsibility falls on us.
We can do it, especially when a candidate rises to the level where the new media does a real job of helping to vet them (such as a candidate going on Beck or Hannity). But people need to be cautious: just because someone stands up and says he's a member of the Tea Party doesn't mean he's a stand-up guy.