Straw man. A HUGE swath of tea partiers are independents. Go ahead, keep insulting their intelligence.
Please name a third party, since 1860, that has won a presidential contest. I’ll wait...
>A HUGE swath of tea partiers are independents.
Yes, but on the other hand, we basically have a de-facto two party system. The only conservative candidates who have a chance of doing well, at least nationally, are Republicans. Still, I admit that Sarah’s backing of the RNC may indeed be a mistake; however, she may think, whether rightly or wrongly, that the Republican Party needs to be united in order to beat the Dems. Her backing of the RNC (sounds like a rap group, doesn’t it?) may be a gesture in that direction.