I'm no psychologist, but there has to be some explanation why many libertarians and those in the tea parties think that playing dress-up games and putting on a show is an argument. The same isn't true of other political groups; the only two I can think of that come close are PETA and CodePink. The great majority of political groups try to make an argument or (as in the case of this site for the most part) try to show how the opposition is wrong. But, for the teapartiers and for libertarians, simply playing dress-up games is the argument itself.

For a recent example (link)

In Dallas, the [San Antonio Tea Party] charge has been led by the team of Josh McDowell and Jon Kaplan... McDowell, 53, is tall and gregarious, a former Corpus Christi weatherman who now works as a technical writer. Kaplan, 61, is diminutive and thin, a Realtor with a quiet, professorial air... The two are a budding conservative comedy team. At this year's SATP Tax Day rally, McDowell portrayed Davy Crockett and Kaplan played Vladimir Lenin in historical skits... They now plan to take their balanced-budget campaign to YouTube with a spoof of the musical “Fiddler on the Roof.”

They're going to put on a show. Others in their movement putting on shows include the famous Tom Paine impersonator Bob Basso (peekURL.com/vpoz7hu) and, just as there are several Ronald McDonalds, there are other Paine impersonators: peekURL.com/vldtm7w and peekurl.com/v3fjh2l are just two examples. And, of course, there's the Boston Tea Party re-enactments like peekURL.com/vfnu6ac . And, of course, there were things like the "Ron Paul Mini- Blimp Parade" (peekURL.com/vrl552p) and all the other parades and dress-up events in support of Ron Paul.

I understand the value of publicity and finding ways to grab peoples' attention. However, other groups manage to do that without such flamboyance.