But there is increasing friction from within the Republican Party between tea party activists and establishment politicians.
There was an enormous show of force by the tea party movement at this weekend's Values Voters summit in Washington, D.C.
The gathering heard from republican politicians like Newt Gingrich and Michelle Bachman who called on the audience to embrace the tea party's message to take the country down a more conservative path.
But some politicians aren't happy with the tea party's influence in the Republican Party. Alaska Senator Lisa Murkowski, who was defeated by tea party member Joe Miller, defiantly announced that in November she'll be a write in candidate.
"They tell me this can't be done, that this is a futile effort. Well, perhaps its one time that they met one Republican woman who won't quit on Alaska," Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R) Alaska said.
Those comments -- a subtle swipe at former Alaska Governor Sarah Palin, who has offered high profile endorsements for several tea party candidates including one for Murkowski's opponent Miller.
At a republican dinner in Iowa Friday night Palin praised non-traditional candidates for sending a message to the republican establishment.
"We can't wait until 2012 to get our country back on the right track, we need to start now by electing strong leaders who aren't afraid to shake it up," former Alaska Governor Sarah Palin said.
One of those is tea party candidate Christine O'Donnell who defeated a GOP establishment candidate in the Delaware primary for U.S. senate.
She received a warm response at the D.C. summit when she defended her fellow political insurgents.
"They call us wacky, they call us wing nuts, we call us we the people," GOP senate candidate Christine O'Donnell said.
