The Tea Party movement is often seen by outsiders as one big monolithic force, especially by its detractors (who occasionally use nastier words than “monolithic” to describe it). But lately, there has been a mounting civil war between two rival factions of Tea Partiers.

One big bone of contention? The GOP‘s growing involvement with the movement.

When Sarah Palin endorsed Conservative Party nominee Doug Hoffman over GOP moderate Dede Scozzafava, it was a fair question to ask: “why?” Mainstream media accounts that only touch on Scozzafava’s political beliefs are just telling part of the story.