Say you're a Democratic Party leader, discouraged by sinking poll numbers and the retirements of "safe seat" lawmakers such as Sen. Evan Bayh and Rep. Patrick Kennedy. Still, you have hope. After all, the thinking goes, conservatives are going to be hopelessly split this year between tea-party activists and GOP regulars.

Well, let me squash that last hope for you, at least here in Pennsylvania.

There are policy disputes between various tea-party and Republican factions. There will be much debate between now and the May 18 primary. And at no point will all of the people be pleased all of the time.

But, unlike Democrats who treat the tea-party groups with contempt, the state GOP and its candidates have decided to give the activists a respectful hearing. And why not, considering the principles they share: limited government, free markets, lower taxes, and personal responsibility.

Exhibit A was the Tea Party Coalition Candidate Forum in Center City on Feb. 9. The event was sponsored by a variety of local and national organizations, tea-party chapters - and the Republican Party of Pennsylvania.

Activists had been wary in the months leading up to the event. With all the jockeying for position by the party and candidates, the movement that was shouting "No more business as usual!" feared it would have no voice in the process.

"There was a really strange disconnect," said Kevin Kelly of Philadelphia's Loyal Opposition, the lead organizer for the candidate forum. "For the people in these movements, their natural home is the Republican Party. But the party was doing a bad job of making them feel welcome."

That sums up the experiences of Carl Namiotka, of Royersford, who had tried to be more active in the GOP. But, he says, he never heard from his local committee person, and even if he attended a party event - always at a country club - he never felt welcome.

"There's no customer service," Namiotka, now busy with the Pottstown Patriots, says of the GOP. He likens the party to "the yearbook committee in high school" - one select group making all the decisions about who's in and who's out.

When that decision-making appeared to be too heavy-handed on candidate selection recently, especially in local congressional races, activists spoke out.

In Delaware County's Seventh District, newcomer Steve Welch was in, until former U.S. Attorney Pat Meehan stopped running for governor and announced for Congress.

Then Welch was in for the Sixth District (he lived just over the border and now has a home in the Sixth), along with State Rep. Curt Schroder (a tea-party favorite) and others. Until U.S. Rep. Jim Gerlach ended his run for governor to seek reelection. Both Schroder and Welch are now out.

In Bucks County's Eighth District, up to nine candidates were lining up to challenge U.S. Rep. Patrick Murphy, until party favorite and former Congressman Mike Fitzpatrick jumped in.

For tea-party activists, it too often appeared that personality overshadowed principle or policy.

"The party seems to have a preference for certain candidates who they know and are part of the machinery," says Betty Dunkel Hernon, of Phoenixville, and the Valley Forge Patriots.

Out of the general discontent came the forum idea. And both the party and candidates signed on. U.S. Senate candidate Pat Toomey was among the first.

"The Tea Party movement goes well beyond just the folks who show up at rallies," he wrote to me in an e-mail. "The rallies are the not-so-silent portion of the majority of Americans who are very uncomfortable with the bailouts, the nationalization of whole industries, and the unprecedented spending levels coming from Washington today. Public officials would be well advised to listen very closely to those concerns."

In all, despite that night's blizzard warnings, 21 candidates attended the forum, from gubernatorial wannabes Tom Corbett and Sam Rohrer to 14 running for Congress. State Republican Party Chairman Rob Gleason was there too. These same candidates have also responded to dozens of other requests to speak to activist groups.

So the party will listen, but it won't be pushed around. Last weekend, at the state committee meeting, there was a tea-party-inspired push for no endorsements in the races for governor, lieutenant governor, and U.S. Senate. The GOP took the issue to its members, but the no-endorsement plea lost decisively.

That won't be the last time the two sides disagree - but don't expect any fatal blowups. Hernon echoes the thoughts of many local activists when she says that this year, "there is no intention whatsoever of a third party."

That thought may dash the hopes of Democrats, but it's an indication that Republican outreach to tea partyers is working - for now.