the GOP strategy of creating an "alternative" sub-party
Well, the GOP didn't really create the Tea Party, they just commandeered it when it became useful to them. The "Tea Party" as we know it today has its roots in various factions of libertarianism that, at the time they were founded, wouldn't have anything to do with the mainstream GOP.
That's certainly the back story that's always been promoted to the press.
Brilliant, I suppose, given how effectively it appears to have worked.
It's true, though. There was no "Tea Party" at first. What happened was after the nearly $2T in bailouts and "stimulus", people started getting together literally at tea parties (where you drink tea) to bitch about the situation together and as homage to the Boston Tea Party. It took off like wildfire and started to look like a movement, but it was decentralized. Then the Republicans started pandering to this group to bolster their ranks. That scummy bit did work rather effectively.
Libertarians have flown the Gadsden Flag ("Don't Tread on Me!") for many years, but unfortunately now it's become a symbol of the far right. As my good friend once said about the stars & stripes when *everyone* put them on their vehicle after 9/11, "every time someone does that, it makes the symbol less significant". Well said.
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