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STORY HIGHLIGHTS

Washington (CNN) -- Republicans call it a government cover-up similar to what forced Richard Nixon to resign. Democrats call it a right-wing conspiracy theory.

The fallout from the September 11, 2012, terrorist attack in Benghazi, Libya, that killed four Americans continues more than 19 months later, with further details last week that raised questions about how the Obama administration responded to the violence less than two months before the President's re-election.

Few issues reveal the hyper-partisan politics of Washington more than the ongoing debate over an issue now known simply as Benghazi.

Last Friday, House Oversight Committee Chairman Darrell Issa announced that he had subpoenaed Secretary of State John Kerry to testify at a May 21 hearing, alleging that the State Department failed to comply with an earlier subpoena for documents.

House Speaker John Boehner followed up by announcing a special congressional committee led by a Republican colleague would investigate the matter. The House voted on party lines Thursday to create the panel, but Democrats have yet to decide if they will take part in what they claim could be a Republican-led witch hunt.

GOP-led House votes to establish select committee on Benghazi

Hillary Clinton: No reason for new Benghazi committee

Issa called the administration's lack of compliance "in violation of any reasonable transparency or historic precedent at least since Richard Milhous Nixon."

At the White House, spokesman Jay Carney shot back that Republicans continued trying to reap political benefit with what he called conspiracy theories about a Benghazi cover-up.

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Cover-up or right-wing conspiracy?

STORY HIGHLIGHTS

Washington (CNN) -- Establishment Republicans, backed by business-friendly outside groups, launched a counter-offensive this year against conservative Senate challengers after two election cycles of hard-right candidates winning GOP primaries but losing in November.

Republicans need to flip six seats this year to win back the majority and don't want the same scenario to play out again. The tea party's scorecard this year is far different than in 2010 and 2012, when it knocked off several establishment-backed candidates.

Short-lived tea party victories

It's too early to say if the party's over, but as Stuart Rothenberg of the non-partisan Rothenberg Political Report wrote earlier this month, "it's already clear that the pragmatist conservatives have stopped the anti-establishment's electoral momentum."

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March 4

Firebrand Republican Rep. Steve Stockman launched a last-minute bid against Texas Sen. John Cornyn, but he never seriously challenged the incumbent. Cornyn won by more than 40 points.

May 6

North Carolina state House Speaker Thom Tillis won big against his top two conservative opponents, winning enough of the vote in the primary to avoid a costly runoff that would have delayed his general election face-off against Democratic Sen. Kay Hagan, one of the nation's most vulnerable incumbents.

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Is the (tea) party over?

PRINCETON, NJ -- American voters rate the economy as the most important issue to their vote for Congress this year, and give the Republicans in Congress a slight edge over the Democrats as best able to handle it. Voters give four other issues lower, but still above-average, importance -- the federal deficit, taxes, the Affordable Care Act, and income and wealth inequality. Voters see Republicans as better able to handle the first two, while Democrats have the edge on the latter two.

These results are from an April 24-30 Gallup survey. Registered voters were asked to rate the importance of nine issues to their vote for Congress, and then asked to indicate which party would do a better job on each issue. The accompanying graph displays the ranking of these nine issues on both of these dimensions simultaneously. The higher the issue is on the vertical axis, the more important voters say it is to their vote, while the further to the right it is, the greater the perceived Democratic advantage.

Inequality, Same-Sex Marriage, Global Warming More Important to Democrats

Republicans and Democrats rate the importance of four of the issues similarly, including agreeing on the economy's importance. Democrats are significantly more likely than Republicans to rate global warming, same-sex marriage, and income and wealth inequality as important. Although same-sex marriage and global warming may have lower potential payoff in terms of the overall voting population, given their below-average importance ratings, they may still be campaign issues that Democrats can use to motivate their voting base.

Republicans give two issues a higher level of importance than do the Democrats -- the federal budget deficit and taxes.

Implications

American voters have a clearly differentiated sense of which issues will or will not be important to their vote for Congress this year. They give economy-related issues, including the distribution of income and wealth, along with the Affordable Care Act, above-average importance. Hot-button issues such as immigration and global warming, and issues that have been much in the news recently, such as foreign affairs and immigration, have below-average importance.

There is universal agreement across party lines on the importance of the economy this year, and Republicans have a slight perceptual advantage as the party best able to handle the issue, perhaps partly stemming from the blame the voters may place on the party that currently controls the White House. On the other hand, opinions diverge on the importance of issues such as global warming and same-sex marriage, with Democrats much more focused on these issues than Republicans are. While these issues may not have broad salience, they may work well as issues Democrats can use to motivate their voter base -- vitally important in midterm elections in which turnout can be as important as changing people's minds about who can best handle an issue.

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