What exactly is the Tea Party?

[King of Kensington]

Is there an official "Tea Party" designation or is it just the post-2009 term for right-wing populist Republican? 

Some commentators on the Tea Party make it sound like that this type of Republican didn't exist before (what about those Gingrich Congresspeople in the 90s going on about UN black helicopters?) 

I remember in 2010 (I think) when CNN broadcast both the "official" Republican response (Paul Ryan) and the "Tea Party" response (Michelle Bachmann) to the State of the Union.  I don't recall much of an ideological difference, but CNN treated the Tea Party as if they were a "party" rather than just a faction of the GOP.

Where does "establishment Republican" end and "Tea Party" begin?

[Chunk Yogurt for President!]

It's almost impossible to define.  Basically everyone who says that they're in the Tea Party is in the Tea Party because there aren't official membership rolls.

[🦀🎂🦀🎂]

A feeling of anger quickly coopted by careerist right-wingers.

[Atlas Has Shrugged]

A bunch of Republican olds who were Giuliani supporters in 2008 but got conservatized by Aunt Sarah and dragging out the flag everywhere they go.

[Yank2133]

A mob of angry old white people.

[King of Kensington]

I remember talking to some US conservatives who said in all seriousness that Obama was practically a European style socialist and people like John Boehner and Mitch McConnell were practically liberals!  Which is odd from a non-US perspective, since the "mainstream" of the GOP is well to the right of other small-"c" conservative parties.

[Bandit3 the Worker]

Is there an official "Tea Party" designation or is it just the post-2009 term for right-wing populist Republican?

They're hardly what I'd call populist. Their policies favor the wealthy, and the movement is bankrolled largely by the Kochs (and the CIA and criminal gangs).

[Mr. Reactionary]

An anachronistic term.

[Crumpets]

[traininthedistance]

A(n all-too-successful) branding initiative.

[Blue3]

Angry People Incorporated

[Joe Republic]

Does the term even really exist outside of Democratic fundraising emails any more?

[Maxwell]

A(n all-too-successful) branding initiative.

[Del Tachi]

What really should define the Tea Party is not their hatred of President Obama or his agenda, but rather there unwillingness to cooperate with Republican leadership.  So, its the unruly part of the House GOP caucus and its supporters.   

[King of Kensington]

It seems to me that the GOP ceased to be a mainstream small-"c" conservative party in the 1990s, not with the emergence of the Tea Party.

[Amenhotep Bakari-Sellers]

It was a British rebellion against the burden of taxes. Today, the present day tea party wants little or no govt. Back then, the Federalists wanted a centralized govt.

[DemPGH]

It was nothing more than a reaction to the fact that a Black Democrat from Chicago had been elected President. It sprang into existence like a day after he took office and pretended like Bush had never existed. Nationalists, far right types, angry old White people, etc. flocked to it. When those black helicopters and death panels failed to materialized, it quickly lost its steam and cohesion. Now I think TEA Party is just kind of a pejorative for the far right here in the USA.

[Mr. Reactionary]

It seems to me that the GOP ceased to be a mainstream small-"c" conservative party in the 1990s, not with the emergence of the Tea Party.

They were still somewhat conservative in the 1990s. They shed pretty much all ideology during their Caligula period of ultimate power under W. Bush and DeLay.