The problem is that you're looking at the way the media portrays them. Certainly, some Tea Partiers are shitheads, but it's the same with just about any group. I know a few Tea Partiers, and while I may disagree with them on some points, I have found them to be pleasant people who make quite a few good points. Saying they're all racist, religiously fanatical conspiracy theorists is like saying that everybody in the Occupy Movement is a lazy, hypocritical communist who hates the rich on principle.