Getting your arms around Florida's Tea Party movement is like trying to hug a jellyfish: There's no good place to grab on, and if there were, you'd probably get stung.

Ask U.S. Rep. Adam Putnam, a conservative Republican from Bartow who sees potential in the movement's amorphous energy and anger — if it can be harnessed.

"Anger alone will not retake the majority for the Republican Party," Putnam warned party members recently. "It's just a passion. It is not a plan for government."

"Republican bigwigs don't really understand the whole Tea Party thing," said Phil Russo, an Orlando activist who hosts a weekly radio show called Tea Party Patriots. "I think they're scared of us."

For movement leaders such as Russo, this is the moment they've been waiting for: a chance to crowd out the so-called "Republicans-in-name-only" and establish a true conservative vision. But for GOP pragmatists, ideological purity is a dicey proposition.

Nowhere in Florida is the Tea Party movement more prominent than in the GOP primary for U.S. Senate. Pitting Crist against former Florida House Speaker Marco Rubio, the race has become a proving ground for Tea Party voters eager to flex their muscles. They have so far lined up behind Rubio, a Miami Republican with major-league speaking skills and an Eagle Scout's face.

In nine months, Rubio has overcome a 30-point deficit in the polls and is locked in a dead heat with Crist. Rubio is the darling of the most conservative wing of the GOP, and in early January – before Scott Brown's win in Massachusetts – he appeared on the cover of The New York Times Magazine under the headline, "The First Senator from the Tea Party?"

This has put Rubio, who is running as the anti-Crist, in an enviable but delicate position: He wants the Tea Party support but not necessarily the label.

On January 19, the South Florida Tea Party, Inc., a non-profit organization seeking 501(c)(4) status, filed a lawsuit in federal court against the ballot-qualified Tea Party. The lawsuit asks the court to order the qualified minor political party to change its name. The case is South Florida Tea Party, Inc., v Tea Party, in the southern district, case number not yet known.

The Complaint seems internally contradictory. Near the beginning it says, “The Defendants organization of a political party that utilizes the phrase ‘Tea Party’ is not in and of itself objectionable or unlawful.” But toward the end, when it summarizes what relief it is asking for, it asks for a court order that the ballot-qualified minor party “be required to amend their filings with the appropriate office of the State of Florida such that their registered political party currently registered as ‘Tea Party’ must include other terms in order to avoid public confusion that the Florida ‘Tea Party’ is somehow endorsed or approved by the Plaintiffs and other persons or entities that are similarly situated.”

The group that filed the lawsuit says that the tea party movement “are working toward reform within the Republican Party and view third party candidacies as counterproductive.”

The ballot-qualified Tea Party gained recognition as a political party in Florida in August 2009. Florida is the only state in which there is a ballot-qualified political party called “Tea Party” (the Boston Tea Party is no longer a ballot-qualified party in Florida and was never a qualified party in any other state).

Extremists have become so loud, they’re deafening. And because they shout in perfect sound bites, the media birddog their every rant, however irresponsible or outrageous.

But we believe the political tide’s about to turn with a vengeance. No matter their party affiliation or lack thereof, Americans are disgusted with those who harass to harass, obstruct to obstruct, tear down to tear down. Compromise, consensus, bridge-building, and respect for differing viewpoints have been the hallmarks of American life as long as there’s been an America. We’re certain they will be again.