The difference is, the far right every 15 years or so seems to coalesce just enough to wreak havoc on the GOP, proper. See e.g. Perot.
The problem this go 'round is that the deep and immediate cuts to entitlements that the TP would like to see enacted are just not politically possible. And so when Boehner comes back with, "I got us $300 billion over the next seven years," they are going to go ape shiite and turn on him even more.
A number of folks on here don't want to admit it, but the TP is a real problem for the GOP establishment in 2012 and possibly going forward. They are simply going to demand an abrupt stop of what they perceive to be a transfer of wealth from white upper class to black lower class and will not tolerate leadership that doesn't threaten to grind the whole thing to a stop if they don't get what they want.