Pete,
If you take time to study the tea party actions, you would see that when the government does something that a lot of the electorate feels is unjust, imoral and/or illegal, they will let out a scream that will be heard. Then and only then, can the people tell the politicians what THEY want and how THEY want him or her to vote. The American population(and most other countrys as well), is a silent force that the politicians haven't riled very often. When only a small segment of the population is affected, we too just shrug our shoulders. Our history is full of those local and regional politicans. They nibble away with small changes that most say "Oh Well" and go about their business. it is this creeping injustice that isn't quite enough to upset the entire population.
This time though, it started with one president who doubled the national debt in four years(a big deal). This stirred the population because they realized it would affect their pocketbooks. A war that seemed to not have a cause(a big deal). Most rememberd Vietnam and the taste it left in the electorate, coupled with a few key cororations going bankrupt, people loosing their life savings, stired them even more.
This was to be followed by a slick politican that everyone knew was radical left but talked a good game. Young and articulate, he promised change, but wouldn't elaborate. They used focus groups to get the key words that made people feel good about what they were talking about. Then they promised all these good things, but renigged on most if not all. There was a disconnect in what they said, and what they did. Most families understand a budget. With the quadrupling of the debt in one year and 50 or so new government agencies yet to be put to work, along with the recession, massive spending programs that producded little if anything, the population relized that this was not what the mainstream Americans wanted. People that were never active in politics before, for the first time, began to stand up and shout. The organisers remembered the first organised revolt in our country was over the taxation(of tea) without any representation. They felt that they were overtaxed as it is and the prospect of new taxes(you got to pay for these programs somehow), that they wer not being represented the way they wanted. This was from people in both parties. They coalested iinto groups around the country, into the tea party movement. There are key people within the movement that have been active in politics in one way or another. They were the driving forces. The people have made it cleaar to the politicans that they want this nonsense and not listening to the people to stop. A few key elections sent the message. The ones that are not listening such as Senator Bayh, Harry Reed and many others have terrible polling numbers. A good number are resigning and not running for reelection rather than being beaten in the election.
Yes you can make a difference, you just have to hope the rest of the population is as pissed as you are and are ready to make themselves heard. But they gotta speak up and do more than just vote. Remember the town Hall meetings last summer??
Bill