This year has been a great exercise in unity for the Republican Party. After coming off of the defeat of John McCain and the unrivaled support of President Barack Obama, Republicans have been able to hold it together. Every response to Democratic or Obama administration proposals has been “No” or “You have got to be kidding us.” They have successfully remained strong and cohesive.

Until now. Following the establishment of support for the Conservative Party by distinct Republicans, namely Sarah Palin, a new challenge has arisen for the Grand Old Party. The new Tea Party has instituted itself as a force to be reckoned within the Right. Earlier this year, loose organizations of people formed “tea parties”, whose goal was to protest the government proposed bailout. Now, like-minded people have come together to form the Tea Party.

The origins of this movement are straightforward. Frederic O’Neal, a conservative lawyer from Florida registered Nov. 9 an official “Tea Party” with the Florida Secretary of State to run as a third party onto the national and local level. O’Neal said, "The current [political] system has become mired in the sludge…that seeks to control the leadership of both parties. It’s time for real change.”

Apparently, O’Neal wants real change, but does his political platform provide that? The main purpose of the Tea Party is opposition to the unnecessary congressional spending that is rife within the United States. They adamantly opposed President Obama’s bailout and are fed up with the government spending not only their money, but that of their children. They are not an anti-Obama group either, no matter how many political pundits in the media say they are.

Though they seem like they would be a group of conservatively-minded people, the Tea Party is made up of people from all ideologies. The group caters to people who have realized that labels like “liberal” and “conservative” are only used in the media to keep the country fighting among itself for political supremacy.

Aside from the platform outlined by the party’s charter, the Tea Party plans to run against the two major parties nationally. This could spell doom for the Republican Party in the long run, and would potentially assert Democratic power for some time to come. How would this happen? Simply put, with a schism between Conservative voters, Republicans would suffer across the board.

According to a Rasmussen Poll, Republicans held a four-point lead over Democrats in a generic congressional ballot (43-39 percent). This lead would seem very solid, if it were not for the rise of Tea Party candidates. According to http://www.rasmussenreports.com, a separate, three-way Generic Ballot test finds that Democrats attract 36 percent of the vote, while the Tea Party candidate picks up 23 percent and Republicans finish third at 18 percent. Another 22 percent are undecided.

This drop in attraction of Republican candidates could prove to be catastrophic, and the current policies of the Republican Party are not helping much. Former Representative Tom Davis, a Virginia Republican who served as National Republican Congressional Committee chairman, said, “[Republicans] are becoming a church that would rather chase away heretics than welcome converts and that’s no way to become a majority party.” With the current policies of the Republicans, it looks like the next few years will not be a tea party for anyone.