Abby Rapoport writes in The American Prospect today that a new, 43-page study out of the College of William and Mary, Republican Factionalism and Tea Party Activists, shows that "the constituency isn't going away any time soon-and Republicans hoping the activists will begin to moderate their stances should prepare for disappointment."

Summarizing the study, Rapoport makes three core points:

1. Tea Party activists are not Republicans.
2. Tea Party activists aren't nearly as concerned about winning.
3. Attempts to bridge the gap between establishment Republicans and the Tea Party are doomed to fail.

Further, early in her piece, Rapoport notes that "Republicans are now reliant on the Tea Party." Bolstering this point, The New York Times today reported that Texas Senator Ted Cruz had "shown little regard for long-standing rules of decorum," "publicly discussed the closed-door dealings of the Senate Republican Conference [a big taboo]," and "trashed his colleagues in the process."

In this paper we examine Republican Party factional differences between Tea Party Republicans and non-Tea Party Republicans. We find, first, that at the mass level Tea Party supporters constitute a majority of Republican identifiers--particularly among those most active in Republican campaigns. We examine the large and significant differences between the two factions. We then turn to an examination of Tea Party (potential) activists, relying on a survey of almost 12,000 supporters of the largest Tea Party membership group: Freedom Works. Although very similar to the mass sample of tea Party Republicans on issue positions, this group is far more negative towards the Republican Party. We examine the sources of this negativity in ideology, issue priorities, partisanship and political style.