Murdouck didn’t lose because he was the TEA Party candidate. He lost for the same reason Todd Aiken lost in Missouri; because he was dumb enough to take the rape bait and produce a sound byte that scuttled an otherwise excellent opportunity to win.
You’re absolutely correct.
And the sad part is that Journ-0-list Stephanopolus telegraphed this attack in January of 2012 in the first R POTUS debate, and Limbaugh talked about it for weeks.