At the time when the Tea Party wave first hit here, it was very much not a mainstream Republican Party idea. The people that I knew who it drew in were typically Libertarian or Republicans dissatisfied with the Republican Party leadership.
Yes, this is exactly what happened. Tea Party both drives and get driven in the national conversation. Unfortunately, all the best stuff about them: social liberal policies, banking reform, and non-interventionist foreign policy got driven out.
Now it's all: "No taxes!", "Let 'em starve!", etc.
