The tea party arose out of genuine discontent with the mainstream Republican party, a party that under Bush had lost its old school fiscal conservative values and instead taken on a neo-conservative "spend and cut taxes" philosophy. Original the tea party had more of a libertarian following, and despite what you may think, at the grassroots level the tea party is more diverse than you think because all you see is the Republican opportunists trying to play off of the tea party to their political gain.
Being a moderate libertarian, or liberal conservative, I do no affiliate myself with the tea party because it has no defined leadership, if one were to ask "Who's in charge of the tea party", you're likely to get a variety of answers... because as far as I'm aware there is no true leadership to the tea party at a national level officially.
I can't stand the mainstream Republican party, bible thumping fascists, nor can I stand the mainstream Democrats, let government do everything socialists. I'll settle for a socially liberal, fiscally conservative government... but unfortunately neither extreme can compromise.