When one steps back and looks at what the Tea Party has done, it is quite interesting.
In 1992, Ross Perot tried the 3rd party approach with many of the basic ideas of the Tea Party. He found out that it's hard to displace the two dominant parties as the rules are really tilted in their favour. Although both the Dems and GOP are eternal enemies, neither would permit another party to divide the pie even more.
Enter the Tea Party circa 2008. Heck they even tout a party brand but instead of actually being a stand alone party, they have hijacked the party closest to their values, the Republicans and is working hard to transform the Republican party into the Tea Party but to keep the brand name.
The belief is that it keeps the two party system and even GOPers who are not happy with what the new Republican party is doing, most GOP voters hate the Democrats more. So much so, they would prefer to vote for their imperfect party than vote Democrat; it would be a mortal sin to do otherwise. Even as the Democrats move to the centre right and propose what usually would be Republican initiatives, current GOP voters now vote against them.
What the Tea Party has done effectively is create a new party with ultra right wing views, taken over an existing party to keep the two party system, and trap "non socialists" into voting for the new GOP by stoking their dislike for the Democrats.
The flaw in the strategy I predict is that demographics dictate that many new voters will be pushed away from the new GOP meaning they will never be able to win the Senate nor the White House. They will linger as an obstructionist party imposing their will by random demands and crisis threats. And I'm not sure how long business will support this. If the Democrats do move to occupy the sane centre, then political funds will move more to the Democrats. The one caveat however, is that Citizens United now allows fewer moneybags to sustain extreme parties. So as long as a few billionaires have no problem spending a decimal point of their fortune, the new GOP can survive a few more election cycles until gerrymandering alone can't keep the House on their side.
Hijacks seldom end well for the hijackers...