THE HILL: After Victories, Tea Party Won’t Back Down.

A broader debate building within the party, over the scope of GOP policy goals, could exacerbate tensions. Both McConnell and Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) have said they want to initially pursue smaller, bipartisan accomplishments, like approving the Keystone XL pipeline and a bill meant to encourage the hiring of veterans.

But Brian Phillips, communications director for Sen. Mike Lee (R-Utah), who chairs the Senate Steering Committee, said conservatives are concerned that the GOP will get stuck on what he called “small-ball items.”

“The message that conservatives are sending to the new GOP majority is, we can’t just do small-ball items and we can’t just do the things K Street wants us to do even if they’re good policy. We have to make as much a part of our agenda as anything larger reform bills that speak directly to middle class families and working class Americans,” he said.

Phillips listed welfare and education reform as two bigger-picture items conservatives want to see on the agenda, and others have emphasized tax reform as well.

He said he doesn’t see the same sorts of internecine warfare blowing up the legislative process now that Republicans control the Senate. Those battles — like the one that led to the government shutdown — were largely “tactical,” over the “how” of stopping President Obama’s agenda.

In retrospect — as even Chris Hayes was noting Wednesday — that whole government-shutdown thing isn’t looking so dumb.