Mac I do not need to read it again -- I am an American Historian who specializied in the philosophy of American government and it evolution through changing social, economic, cultural, and world conditions. And I challenge that the Constitution is specific. It places some specific limits and rules but it was purposefully written with tremendous vagauries to allow it to last a long time. James Madison was very well versed in types of government that had come before and saw that many were doomed to failure through placing contextual limitations on them. There is much inferred and hinted at in the constitution, and it is a loose framework around which to build, not a specific framework. This was by design and is its greatest strength.
Now for the Tea Party, your approach is yours, but the public face of the Tea Party has been candidates that have courted that vote and, in many cases, have simultaneously courted very socially conservative votes. And the latter have cost the Republican party dearly. This goes to my point: the current Republican party is too dominated by culture warriors and, if that is not remedied, the party will be reduced to a regional one. Think of it this way: which leadership would threaten personal liberties more, Democratic or Republican? For the first time in my life I find that answer to be Republican, and that is not in any way, shape, or form the GOP of Lincoln, TR, Eisenhower, or even Reagan (who was a culture warrior). Really think about this: on social issues Obama is more states rights than the current Republicans.