MSNBC’s First Read has a really good round-up of what last night means for the Republicans:

How do we make sense of Christine O’Donnell stunning Mike Castle in Delaware, Carl Paladino crushing Rick Lazio in New York’s GOP gubernatorial primary, and Kelly Ayotte and Ovide Lamontagne still running neck-and-neck in New Hampshire’s Senate GOP contest? It’s simple: We’re witnessing a purge within the Republican Party. A longtime moderate like Castle? Gone. A well-known fixture in New York politics like Rick Lazio (who agreed to be the party’s sacrificial lamb to Hillary in 2000)? Adios. Ayotte supporting Sonia Sotomayor’s SCOTUS nomination? Problematic. We’ve said this before, but it bears repeating: This is no longer George W. Bush’s Republican Party, or even Ronald Reagan’s (at least the Reagan who raised taxes and agreed to amnesty for illegal immigrants). It’s a Republican Party that’s being led by Palin, DeMint, Beck, Hannity, and Limbaugh. And while Palin is the catnip here, DeMint is the real player — the unofficial head of the GOP Senate’s Tea Party caucus and the guy who truly bears watching.

No matter your political view, I think we can all agree that we are in very interesting times. We are seeing a major political party in the United States being taken over by some of the most extreme views. The Republican Party is in fact becoming the John Birch Society.