Does the United Sates have...

...two major political parties, the Democratic and Republican?

Or does it really have three, the Democratic, the Republican establishment and the Tea Party?

I would argue the latter. I'd say the GOP is really an uneasy coalition of its tea party base and the Washington establishment. (And as the economy improves, the tea party should fade away.)

But in the meantime, according to a piece in the Times today (my emphasis):

Republicans have their hands full fighting one another. 

The strategist Karl Rove and his allies are under withering criticism for creating the Conservative Victory Project, their effort to help rebuild the Republican Party and win control of the Senate. Their pledge to take sides in primary races in an effort to pick candidates they see as more electable has set off a fierce backlash from conservative activists.

“This is not Tea Party versus establishment,” Mr. Rove (above) said, defending his new project on Fox News.

Yes it is. In fact, it's a bit of a civil war. And it's going to hold back the Republican Party until it sorts itself out.