What are these elusive fundamentals? Does the Tea Party even have a platform?
Well what differentiates them then?
Well, let me help you then Winston since you're having such a hard time for it.
First, the Tea Party is a movement not an actual "political party" in regards to the federal level. While there have been individuals at a state level that have ran essentailly as independents backed by the Tea Party movement or local actual "political parties" established, to my understanding there is no official NATIONAL "Tea Party" party.
Second, if you want a "platform" of theirs its not that hard to find what would most likely be considered it. The Tea Party functions as an organization of individual groups, each with its own more localized and unique focus or cares, but generally each holding to an overall principle. The only bit of information that I've seen held in esteem as a "message" of the movement by the vast majority of these various individual groups would be the Contract From America. If you want a "platform" for the Tea Party movement this is the closest you'll likely get. It focuses on three main over arching points of emphasis: Individual Liberty, Limited Government, Economic Freedom. As a more broader statement it has ten key points:
1. Protect the Constitution
2. Reject Cap & Trade
3. Demand a Balanced budget
4. Enact Fundamental Tax Reform
5. Restore Fiscal Responsibility & Constitutionally Limited Government in Washington
6. End Runaway Government Spending
7. Defund, Repeal, & Replace Government-run Health care
8. Pass an "All of the Above" Energy Policy
9. Stop the Pork
10. Stop the Tax Hikes
Each of the above is simply the bullet point header, as each have some more specific information. For example, #1 is Protect the Constitution, but proposes to do such by requiring "each bill to identify the specific provision of the Constitution that gives Congress the power to do what the bill does.
I did not post the more detailed explanation of the three over arching points, or the suggestions for each of the 10 bullet points, do confine to Fair Use rules. You can read them for yourself
HERE.
Note that unlike an actual POLITICAL PARTY platform, these are much more theoritical based as they were submitted and voted on by individual citizens and are more focused on common language and simple concepts than in depth policy statements.
Now, onto your question about how they're different.
First, and most obvious, the Republican Party is a political party, the Tea Party is a political movement. One is a recognized national body who operates singularly within its own political party and works in a top down fashion as the national body has loose control through financial means and others over the individual state and local groupings. The other is a political movement that is only loosely connected at a national level, is not recognized as a national political party, and functions within actual political parties such as the Republican and Libertarian policies to enact the change the movement wishes and strikes out on its own only when it can not influence those groups.
Second, the focus of the Tea Party is much more narrow due to the fact it IS a movement and not a political party. The Republican Party's platform spans every section of the political culture from fiscal to military to government structure to in depth social issues. The Tea Party's purpose is relatively limited to fiscal and govenrmental issues with very few of its points having anything directly to do with social issues or military/defense issues. While individual groups of the Tea Party may be more concerned on a personal level with some of these things, as an over all movement it is relatively disconnected from having a MOVEMENT view concerning these things.
While many of the things that the Tea Party stands for mirror the Republican Parties
stated desires that would be due to the fact that both are founded from a base of conservatism in principle. It is also why it could just as easily be said that the Tea Party is no different than the Libertarian Party as many of the things they stand for also directly mirror in essense that party's views as well. The difference comes more in the fact that one is a political party and one is a political movement, and in general the rigidness of holding to said principles. For example, due to the fact that there is little else concerning the Tea Party movement other than fiscal or governmental issues, someone that is only moderate or weak on them would be hard pressed to be able to truly claim to be a member of the Tea Party movement. On the flip side, one could be relatively weak on those issues, but relatively conservative on issues of Defense and Social issues and still claim to be a Republican due to having strong connections with a portion of that political parties platform.
Hope that helps your confusion so you do not exhibit it in the future.