The ‘tea party’ movement was in the news again Tuesday as some 1,000 followers came to Washington to oppose Democrats’ final effort to pass healthcare reform. Since last summer, when the group gained recognition for its vocal opposition to healthcare reform in town halls, it has become a fixture on the national political scene. Yet questions remain: Just who, exactly, are the tea party faithful? The disgruntled remains of the Ron Paul movement? Fired-up elements of the Christian right? The seeds of a GOP populist movement? Patchwork Nation has something of an answer. Using a collection of online directories from one of the biggest tea-party groups, we have mapped and sorted a large number of members into the 12 Patchwork Nation county types. That breakdown shows tea party members are, as members suggest, scattered around the country. But there are concentrations in some particular kinds of places: agricultural ‘Tractor Country, the ‘Military Bastions located near defense installations, and ‘Mormon Outposts heavy with adherents of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. It also suggests that the official tea party organizations, while by no means small, are probably not an army of tens of millions […]