Yes, there are millions of folks out there who believe and think like the tea party, but don’t realize it yet, because they just don’t pay that much attention to current events.
But I wish the “tea party’ would change their name, because they are not a political party. The media is perpetuating the notion that they are some wild, crazy bunch of wierdos, when in fact they are perfectly normal, hard working people.
You do have a point there, and adding or substituting the word "patriot" would be spun to appear to mean ready for armed insurrection.