Support for the Tea Party — and with it, the Republican Party — has fallen sharply even in places considered Tea Party strongholds, according to a new survey.
In Congressional districts represented by Tea Party lawmakers, the number of people saying they disagree with the Tea Party has risen sharply over the year since the movement powered a Republican sweep in midterm elections, so that almost as many people disagree with the Tea Party as agree with it, according to the poll by the Pew Research Center.
Support for the Republican Party has fallen more sharply in those places than it has in the country as a whole. In the 60 districts represented in Congress by a member of the House Tea Party Caucus, Republicans are viewed about as negatively as Democrats.
The survey suggests that the Tea Party may be dragging down the Republican Party heading into a presidential election year, even as it ushered in a new Republican majority in the House of Representatives just a year ago.
Other polls have shown a decline in support for the Tea Party and its positions, particularly because its hard line during the debate over the debt ceiling and deficit reduction made the Tea Party less an abstraction. In earlier polls, most Americans did not know enough about the Tea Party to offer an opinion…
How much this affects Republican chances in the presidential contest next year, Mr. Kohut said, probably depends on which candidate wins the nomination. “If the candidate is of a more conservative bent, he or she will have to deal with this complaint about the Tea Party among the general public, of being too extreme and not willing to compromise,” he said.
“The focus has been very much on the candidate and not on the party, but going into this election the party has problems,” he said. “Which isn’t to say that people are wildly enthusiastic about the Democratic Party, but it hasn’t lost the kind of favor the G.O.P. has.”
Which really shouldn’t surprise anyone – but, still does.
I think this blurb was an effort by the lame media to obfuscate the fact that the occupiers efforts to stop shopping on Black Friday was a total failure.
That’s a pretty lame conspiracy theory.
Your fiancé is charming and intelligent but only after the wedding do you figure-out he’s a dangerous lunatic.
If the polls are real, it is only because of the full court press by the news media to demonize the tea party and normalize leftist nutcases. Of course, I have a hard time believing the polls. I suspect they come out of East Anglia…
“Leftist nutcases”… who would that be, Donaldo? Are you referring to our president? Who hired Wall Street insiders to run his administration? Who decided it was ok to murder US citizens without a trial? Who started a couple more wars without Congressional approval? Who pushed thru a health care “reform” bill that was a huge windfall to private insurance companies? Who refuses to prosecute Wall Street criminals who helped cause our recession? That leftist nutcase?
The Republicans have successfully created an alternate reality in which someone who does all those right-wing actions is considered a leftist. And you’re living in it, Donaldo.
Ron Paul wants to abolish the SEC, and let those nice Wall Street Multinational Corporations do whatever they want. What could possibly go wrong?
Ron Paul wants to abolish the EPA, and let those nice Multinational Corporations decide themselves where to dump their toxic waste. What could possibly go wrong?
Ron Paul basically wants to abolish all parts of our government that restrain what Multinational Corporations do in their quest for profit. What could possibly go wrong?
No, no, and no.
From Ron Paul’s own website:
ronpaul2012.com/the-issues/energy/
Eliminate the ineffective EPA. Polluters should answer directly to property owners in court for the damages they create – not to Washington.
So if there’s a toxic waste spill in my back yard, I get to sue Exxon. I’ll just have my multi-million-dollar law firm engage their multi-million-dollar law firm. Piece of cake!
We’ve been over this many times before, LL. I used to get mad at the bizarre things you’ve said, but now I’m just puzzled. I guess you just can’t help it. But I admire your dedication, if not your intellectual capacity.
Right now the EPA answers to the corporations, not to the people they are supposed to be protecting. A Classic Examples is the Erin Brockovich (sp) story. Why didn’t the EPA stop PG&E? Why did they only fine them $20k for violating federal law that should have resulted in a lost permit? Why did the EPA award a PG&E official an AWARD for conservation even as all of this was going on at the same time CA was fining them $6M for a failed pipeline?
The Sierra Club is suing the EPA over clean air issues. They haven’t ruled in over 10 years to recommendations from several leading scientists.
Conservation and fishing groups ended up suing major pesticide users when the EPA refused to address the problem.
The list goes on and on and on and on . . .
We’ve been over this many times before, LL. I used to get mad at the bizarre things you’ve said, but now I’m just puzzled
That’s good progress! It won’t be long and you’ll understand how it all works.
Seriously, you are in love with the IDEA of an EPA that works. I wouldn’t mind an EPA that actually did something productive but it will never happen. It will never work because politics are involved.
If the Sierra Club can get the problem resolved in SPITE of the EPA, then that is a good example of how it should work.
There ya go LL, almost a rational answer.
Yes of course, the EPA is corrupted by politics. Everything is corrupted by politics. The solution is not to eliminate these agencies that can work well if the corruption is reduced. The answer is to reduce the corruption so they can do the work that they’re supposed to do.
And the EPA has done good work over the years. We no longer have rivers running blue, green, red, and yellow according to the day’s pollutants, or bursting into flame. Look at China for a country without an EPA… it’s horrific.
Libertarians have this bizarre notion that if you abolish crippled regulatory agencies that don’t always work too well, somehow the protections they enforced will somehow still exist. Without an EPA, Exxon will be able to dump toxic wastes with impunity, because no individual will be able to afford to sue them in court because of their huge and powerful legal departments.
Hey, I have an idea! Why don’t We The People (hint), since we’re interested in Promoting The General Welfare (hint 2), band together and form an Agency (hint 3) that is powerful enough to Protect the Environment (hint 4) against the large and powerful corporations that don’t care who they pollute as long as they make money. Maybe we could call it, oh I don’t know, the Environmental Protection Agency?
As long as there are large and predatory corporations, we will always need a large and powerful government to protect us against them. And yes, corruption in government exists, and it needs to be fought. But if we cripple the government, we will be at the mercy of the corporations, and we’ve been there before, and it’s hellish.
Ah yes the infamous erin brockobitch.
http://tinyurl.com/294uuhy
Try again please.
The answer is to reduce the corruption so they can do the work that they’re supposed to do.
It’ll never happen as long the the government is as large as it is.
Why do you think the corporations are bribing the government? Think, Man! They do it because there is so much money to be had by getting things done their way.
If you truly want a corruption-free government, you need to remove the incentive. Remove the money.
But if we cripple the government, we will be at the mercy of the corporations, and we’ve been there before, and it’s hellish.
We are at their mercy now. It’s never been this bad in history. And the government has never been this large in history. Hmm. I wonder if there is a connection.
Without an EPA, Exxon will be able to dump toxic wastes with impunity, because no individual will be able to afford to sue them in court because of their huge and powerful legal departments.
You are a scared, little man.
I recently attended a Tea Party meeting and it was packed. Of course, it was here in Arizona, and the featured speaker was Sheriff Joe Arpaio, so that might account for it.
Curiously, there were no outbursts from activists shouting him down…everybody was polite and Sheriff Joe was very entertaining.
I think this is just more of the same from those that wish to diminish the impact of the Tea Party movement, calling us ‘Tea Baggers’, racists, gun-toting bible thumpers, etc.
It seems to be OK to have a movement if you are an SEIU union member, or an anarchist occupying a park near Wall Street, or expressing support for ‘greater Azatlan’, but not if you are a tax-paying regular American just trying to peacefully go about his life, making aliving for his family.
The last time I checked, no Tea Party members have ever been arrested for smashing the windows of stores, turning over police cars, throwing rocks and bottles at police, etc.
I think this is just more of the same from those that wish to diminish the impact of the Tea Party movement, calling us ‘Tea Baggers’, racists, gun-toting bible thumpers, etc.
Uh, dude, there’s ample evidence that Tea Party types have made racist statements, that they’ve had rallies in which it seems everyone brought their guns, and the vast majority of them seem to be Christian Fundamentalists. So your point is…?
And where is this ‘ample evidence’? The loony lefties keep saying this, but they can never back it up. The vast majority of them are not Christian Fundamentalists, but even if they were, why would that be a problem.
Guys like you are delusional. Since you can’t argue with facts, you just make things up.
Believe what you want, but wait till the next election, the left is about to take a trouncing like never seen before.
Al, there is no “left” in American politics any more. You can read my list of the Republican things Obama has done (like bring in Wall Street insiders to run his administration, start wars without Congressional approval) for evidence. The fact is, just because a politician has a “D” after his name instead of an “R” doesn’t make him liberal. You wingnut morons have already won, and you don’t realize it. Obama’s a Republican in all his actions, and he’ll most likely get re-elected because the official Republican party candidates are way too scary.
Dvorak:
Perhaps you would consider a poster who is NOT far left liberal puke like this poster.
How about a little BALANCE here?
Things could be worse. People could be looking at how Obama’s support among Americans is dropping… especially since he has no record to run on. LOL.
Unfortunately for you, the support for the Republican party in America seems to be dropping faster than support for Obama.
Which is actually fortunate for you, unless you’re rich, though you don’t understand it. The D’s are slightly less crappy than the R’s. Both in the pocket of big money though.
Like Ralph Nader quipped once. The best advertising for the Democratic party….is the Republican party.
hmm, they must have limits to the depth of the reply chain…
It’ll never happen as long the the government is as large as it is.
Then you’re saying it’ll never happen as long as the country is as large as it is. Because a country this large has lots of money at stake, so the big corporations will always be lured to it. But we’re not going to break up the country. You have a dismal and gloomy attitude toward human nature. Too bad.
We are at their mercy now. It’s never been this bad in history. And the government has never been this large in history. Hmm. I wonder if there is a connection.
You are ignorant of history. Do some research on the Gilded Age. Horrible pollution, brutal and unsafe working conditions, long work weeks, no benefits, people put in dangerous work conditions and fired when they got sick or injured. Much worse than now, and the government was far smaller then (No EPA, no FDA, no OSHA). Hmm. I wonder if there is a connection.
You are a scared, little man.
LOL, a little macho bravado there, LL. You are a silly, little twerp. But to answer your implied question — absolutely! Faced with the prospect of suing a huge multinational corporation whose most junior lawyer in their staff of hundreds makes more money per year than me, I am a scared, little man. That’s why I want the power of my fellow Americans (i.e. the government) behind me when I try to stop a big corporation from dumping their toxic waste on my property.
BTW, another unsavory aspect of libertarians: They’re hypocrites. You benefit from all this burdensome government regulation, LL, when you breathe clean air and drink clean water and eat safe food. Be true to your principles — move to Ethiopia or some other failed state without burdensome government regulation! Put your money where your big mouth is — live your principles instead of just talking about them. Yeah right. Who am I kidding? You’re going to continue making your silly smug fatuous macho comments about rugged individualism while benefiting from all this “socialism” you profess to despise. Whatta maroon.
go easy on Ron Paul ….IMHO he is just another lonely old Pittsburgh boy suffering from his traumatic childhood under the Mellon’s of Pittsburgh go easy on the old guy he’s 76 years old and to close to his beulah land…. I think he is suffering from PTSD ….ask him if he remembers Donora Pa smog of 1948 … the 70 deaths are one of the reasons we have the EPA… back in the hills they say the reason we got the EPA was because Stan Musial’s father died from the smog.
Just read about that on wikipedia, very interesting. The libertarians always run for the hills when this stuff is brought up. What do you say, LL? Ready to abolish the EPA and go back to killer smogs? Would that make you feel more free?
I saw the Killer Smogs open up for Nazereth, back in the 70′s.
The Occupiers = Fed up citizens without jobs
The Tea Party = Fed up citizens with jobs
And somehow our corrupt system has tricked these 2 groups into thinking each other IS the problem?
Priceless!!!!
Occupiers = 99% Citizens who realize the rich are at war with them
Teabaggers = 99% Citizens who honestly think the rich have their best interests in mind
Will the Fleabaggers continue to “occupy Wall Street”? Or have they jumped the shark?
@Hmeyers2
Very well said.
I just have to ask, Who vets these candidates for holding the highest office in the land? And do they? I enlisted in the Air Force, back when Nixon couldn’t be trusted to end the Vietnam War, like he once said he would. Eventually it was Ford won “ended” it. But at the time, the draft was still in effect. And I wasn’t going to college, to get a deferment as a certain republican vice pres did. Anyway, the system vetted me for security reasons, to make sure I could be trusted with sensitive technology. And apparently I was, as I had a Secret Clearance. Years later my parents told me they were interviewed by an investigator. And perhaps others were too. Well I’m Ok with that. In fact I think it’s a good idea. But here’s the big question. Why are presidential candidates checked out like this?
I mean, are US Presidents getting exposure to Top Secret (and above) information? And yet it seems any boob can run for this office, and after winning, be given a stage pass to top secrecy stardom. And only if we’re very luck, some of the crap in these candidates lives, comes forth before they’re elected. And yet the feds are only worried enough to get up on low rank military grunts. Seems a bit upside down, unless the Presidency really is just a figure head position. Which begs the question who then really is in charge, and making those live and death decisions? I seriously doubt it would be Herman Cain, or Michelle Bachman.
“Which begs the question who then really is in charge, and making those live and death decisions? ”
Please do not use expression if you do not know what it means.
To “beg a question” means evade a question with circular logic.
You are dumbing down the internets. Please don’t.
Ron Paul should be a one-issue candidate. Eliminate the Federal Reserve. The rest of his views are too kooky even for the rest of the GOP clown car candidates.