I believe if a national conservative came to the forefront and convinced the teaparty movement that he was the more fiscally conservative candidate to run they would compete directly with the republican party no matter what. Remember this is not the republican party. They still take themselves serious at the grass roots level. THEY WOULD SPLIT the ticket out of principle. In the end it would be the republicans who would cave under Boehner and go along with the TP. in order to defeat the Democrats.