In 2009, the Tea Party Movement emerged on the political scene as a response to the fiscal irresponsibility that landed the United States in a recession. The movement was labeled a phase due to its extremist views. However, three years later, the party has not faded into the dust, but rather, it has grown and expanded its influence throughout the Republican Party.

While the Tea Party’s endorsement has swayed many elections and could have led to Republican victories, the movement does not directly affiliate itself with either party. It does, however, serve as a bridge between the far right and moderate Republican views.

The Tea Partiers have in a sense become the bullies of Washington, threatening use of their voting influence if voting demands are not met. Many liberals have labeled the movement and its participants as terrorists, pointing fingers at the movement as a catalyst for the partisanship that has left millions of Americans dissatisfied with the political system. Others argue that the movement could be necessary in solving some of America’s biggest issues.

“I’m in complete agreement with the motive,” senior Evan Washington said. “We are so far in debt that this movement could possibly alleviate that.”

Many of the more moderate Republicans have little choice in voting, as failure to adhere to the Tea Party’s agenda could lead to a new source of competition during re-elections.

The question of what the Tea Party means for America remains at the forefront of many Americans’ minds. Can our country continue to run amid the blind partisanship of today’s politicians? Republicans must make the decision of whether their target voting audience should be conservative liberals or extreme conservatives. Some believe this could lead to the emergence of the Tea Party as a dominant political party that could rival the Republican and Democratic Parties.

“I agree in principal with their goals of reducing bureaucracy and improving transparency,” senior Derrick Hollenback said. “But I’ve yet to see anything from them that shows they’re anything more then a subset of the Republican party.”

However, even if the Tea Partiers decided to nominate their own candidates for office outside of the Republican Party, there is no real way for them to win. Their political ideology when it comes to issues such as homosexual marriages and other “hot-button” topics effectively eliminates a substantial portion of potential voters.

“From what I’ve seen they’ve been extremely discriminatory, hateful and are mainly radical Christians who would like to turn America into a Christian theocracy,” Hollenback said.

There is no real way for them to ensure their goals are executed and accomplished without the help of the Republican Party. However, if they did become their own party, that is not to say they would not have an influence when it comes to elections, as the votes they would receive would have to come from one of the two parties. Their power would likely be not in the votes they could win, but the votes that they could steal from another party.

Having an additional dominant party could, without a doubt, benefit the American system. However, this third party would have to fall in the middle of the Republican-Democratic spectrum of ideology in order to have any lasting impact. The Tea Party, with its extremist views, does not meet this criteria. Therefore, it can only survive while attached to the back of the Republican Party.