I’m worried about Rand Paul, Sarah Palin, and the tea party movement.

Rand Paul was correct in his victory speech: His victory was a victory for that movement, and it’s not going away.

It’s also larger than a lot of progressives want to believe.

And those progressives who cheer the takeover of the Republican Party by the tea partiers, seeing in it a recipe for electoral victory for Democrats in 2012, may be making a tragic error.

Rand Paul wasn’t the only tea party candidate who won on Thursday. Sarah Palin was also victorious. She endorsed Rand Paul early, and shrewdly invested in the race.

After Paul’s victory, it’s more likely than ever that Sarah Palin will be the nominee in 2012. And then anything can happen. Including her winning the White House.

Especially after the Supreme Court’s decision in Citizens United, which will let corporate America pour billions into the election.

Rand Paul foreshadowed one ad that these corporate dollars are likely to buy: an ad that claims Obama is betraying America. “We now have,” Paul said, “a President who apologizes for America’s greatness.”

Glenn Beck, Sean Hannity, Mitt Romney, Liz Cheney, and Palin herself have uttered similar slurs against Obama.

This tag, more than health care, more than the deficit, may be what ultimately costs Obama.

So don’t take comfort in the craziness of Rand Paul, or the zaniness of Sarah Palin.

Watch out for them.

Matthew Rothschild is the editor of The Progressive magazine.