The Tea Party movement is not grassroots but astroturf.
You keep telling yourself that, despite all of the evidence. Don't let the facts disturb you.
I probably expressed myself somwhat carelessly. The Tea Party movement indeed enjoys widespread support, however, the politicians who are elected are no different from other politicians, i.e. they accept campaign contributions from the highest bidders and pay scant regard to the views of their supporters, apart from lip-service and rhetoric. Libertarian and/or republican values can never equal the aims of the corporations who provide campaign contributions.