That's just my point. It wasn't a party like OP here is calling for. It was a movement within the Republican Party.
What OP is calling for here is kinda the exact opposite. The Tea Party movement successfully got a bunch of people who typically don't engage in politics to join and vote for Republicans. The never had a problem of ballot access or competing with an ideologically similar opponent in general elections because they weren't a different party. OP here is calling for people to vote for a new third party. That's a completely different thing.
Naïveté or willful ignorance. Either way, a new 3rd party won't accomplish anything useful.