Anger may be rising against the two-party system, but Florida's "third" parties have yet to convert it into candidates.

Though the state Department of Elections lists 30 minor parties as "active," only a tiny handful of them have candidates on the 2010 ballot. And some of those hopefuls aren't even running under their party's banner, opting instead to appear as write-ins or NPA (No Party Affiliation), as newly independent Gov. Charlie Crist is doing with his U.S. Senate bid.

Targeting Republican lawmakers who raised taxes and green-lighted the "Train to Nowhere," the TEA Party of Florida has nearly 20 legislative candidates on the fall ballot.

"We're going after some of the big boys -- Dean Cannon, Chris Dorworth, Bryan Nelson and Steve Precourt -- because they voted for (Central Florida's billion-dollar) SunRail. They're on the hitlist," Doug Guetzloe, a consultant for the new TEA Party, said Friday morning.

As an "independent" senator, Charlie Crist would be in a position to leverage his vote for Florida's greater good, political observers say.

Or, in the words of another, he would be "largely ineffective."

If Crist beats Marco Rubio and Kendrick Meek in the fall election, "neither party would be terribly happy with him as he will be perceived as denying them a win," said Roger Stone, a veteran political consultant who worked on Ronald Reagan's 1984 campaign.

Charlie Crist and Marco Rubio tangled before a national audience on "Fox News Sunday," and Republicans say the debate reinforced "defining differences" between the U.S. Senate candidates.

It also raised concerns among state party leaders.

A knock-down, drag-out fist fight between Senate candidates Charlie Crist and Marco Rubio on "Fox News Sunday" may make for good network ratings, but what does it profit the Republican Party of Florida?

A bloody brawl might have some GOP leaders nervously clutching their TV remotes. Yet, the increasingly combative race is drawing evermore intense focus on Florida as a bellwether state for the Fall elections coast to coast.

[Friday] night I sat amongst 1,300 dedicated Republicans and listened to former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin address the Orange County Republicans' Lincoln Day Dinner.