“tea party” is a euphemism for patriotic Americans used by DC insiders when they attempt to define and freeze the opposition to their totalitarianism. The “Tea Party” is what anyone who wants to use that moniker makes it to be! Any more questions?
I’d say an appreciable number of Tea Party patriots were never taught the federal government’s constitutionally limited powers, particularly Section 8 of Article I. So fighting the unconstitutionally big federal government with platitudes that appeal to conservatives instead of referencing specific constitutional clauses to argue their grievances has yielded limited results.