"Some" people remain obsessed with the two candidates who lost and called themselves Tea Party yet are oh so anxious to ignore all the Karl Rove candidates who did miserably.
In 2013, Tea party superpacs outperformed GOP superpacs in fund raising by a wide margin.
So one has to believe that the GOP is ineffective – per Luis' line of reasoning. It seems flyover folks are noticing they're not getting the representation they were promised and are putting their money where their principles are.
Now, turning to Democrats. It is not your grandfather's Democrat Party anymore, not by a longshot. It's been taken over by rabid uncompromising ideologues who are dragging the country kicking and screaming down a socialist path.
As for the GOPe (hope that doesn't upset some folks) they're kind of squishy and easy to roll. They've been complicit in growing government.
So, it seems only natural that against a radical, hell-bent socialist party that a strong, hell-bent, right wing party would necessarily coalesce to counter it. Thus, the rise of the tea party.
And so, to answer Luis' question. The tea party is a bigger threat to the weak-kneed, linguine-spined, roll-over-play-dead, entrenched and corrupted Republican Party.
High five, Tea Party.