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.
It shouldn’t be a surprise considering how the Tea Party movement was originally about “taking the country back” and now it’s become blatantly clear that the Tea Party has been hijacked by Wall Street.
The only people left in the Tea Party movement are those too stupid to see the writing on the wall and the Wall Street cronies.
It also doesn’t help that they found religion either.
Agree completely! We agreed on something this year and we still have 30 days left!!
As soon as the religion cancer strikes a noble movement, it’s the beginning of the end.
I think we agreed on something in May, too, but I’m not sure . . .
Let’s just disagree to disagree then.
The documented at the time fact is that the “Tea Party” was a Republican Astro Turf project. but dirty tricks can backfire a la Swift Boating yourself. Ha, ha.
And yet Obama is at 41% approval: the lowest rating at this time of any President in modern history including Jimmy Carter with whom Obama shares many character istics. Amusing.
Another choice coming up between demonstrated disappointment and a Corporate Raider. Sad. Where is our Savior? Been born yet?
I have to wonder which candidate is going to play the “Are you better off than you were 4 years ago?” card in complete parallel with Reagan’s criticisms of Carter’s failures.
Well, I certainly would if I were Romney. I posted on this very forum 3 years ago that BUSHtheRetard had created such a mess that Obama would not be able to clean it up and would lose in 2012 because of the malaise. I’m no expert, not a politician, not a wonk = but some things are blindingly obvious.
The American Voting Public is too stupid to think long enough to establish causation and is much more comfortable letting bumper sticker dogma direct their votes.
Oh for the parallel universe where we all got to live in the worlds we created.
Not that Obama deserves any criticisms for his failures due to making things worse by putting this country into further debt, eh?
Interesting how Obama has spent a lot of his time campaigning on taxpayers’ dollars, twisting things into class warfare, and not being able to run on his own record / “accomplishments”.
If the guy gets re-elected, it will be for the same reasons he got elected. Flowery symbolism with no concern of his track record or lack thereof.
More BS from Enerd, this is the same line that was be tossed around by the Demoncrats during the last election. What does the Teaparty have in common with WalStreet? Nothing, these are the people ticked off about WalStreet’s bail-out, do all these demoncrats have their Globalist head in the sh*!-bucket. Grow-up – you are part of the problem, you think President Hussein is any different from King George Bush, you’re in a dreamscape deluded from reality. You should look at the legislation being passed and sponsored by the Huessein adminstration.
Maybe you should start thinking about occupying the Whitehouse instead of just be teabagged by the Whitehouse, what dupes.
Whatever…………………………………………………………………….
Traaxx
I can’t say I’ve heard the tea party say a word against Wall Street since the first few moments of its existence.
The big money PACs who co-opted the tea party beat that piece of their platform away. In fact the tea party almost immediately became nothing but a wing of the Republican Party complete with the same issues and talking points. Which is why the tea party goes as the GOP goes.
“The only people left in the Tea Party movement are those too stupid to see the writing on the wall” -Me
Not surprised. Same thing happened to Ross Perot and actually stuck to the issues. The Teapublicans just crossed the loon threshold led by Bachman, Perry and the womanizer.
Newt has a chance getting to be less of an asshole but you know he’s about to blow. Mitt Romney needs to kick it up a notch. He’s to bland or hollow. Ron Paul is the best but he doesn’t have the loon vote and Murdoch doesn’t like him so he loses the Fox sheeple vote. Tough race.
…there’s plenty of time to join the Obama train…..the Soouuul Trainnnnnn !!!
That train derailed long ago.
Yes, go back to sleep, rest…we’re all socialists now…we’ve seen the light…don’t want no damn constitution.
Just give us those parties at the Whitehouse, endless fund raisers, billions for crony capitalists and wall street white shoe boys…good times are here again…thank you Obama for the hope…and change in our pockets.
Just astro turf here, 2010 was a fluke…pay no mind to that…relax…don’t worry about us…we’re with you now…we all want a check…
Well if the Tea Party people are against crony capitalism why are they not holding their own demonstrations against it on Wall Street?
Cursor_
Because they have jobs.
Or to be more precise, their wives have jobs.
Actually, the Tea Party is fairly represented across all walks of life but they tend to be employed more than average.
Doing a search for demographics tea party turns up some interesting factoids.
Detailed study is showing that they have no sense of humor.
Nyuk,Nyuk,Nyuk
Oh, Diehard. you are such a tool of the libs.
1) you can prove anything with a poll
2) Pew is notoriously pro-dem
The Pew Center is in the hands of rabid liberals like Maddy Albright.
I think the only important statement in the article is: “Republicans are viewed about as negatively as Democrats”
In any case, don’t bet your retirement fund on O’Bama. Wait, might as well. You’ll lose it either way…
Tea Party = LUNATIC FRINGE !!! No wonder it’s FADING AWAY !!! It’s 15 Minutes of Fame are LONG OVER !!!
Believing you shouldn’t spend money you don’t have makes you a lunatic? Really?!?!?!?!
That’s why this country is going in the crapper. People think that unless you have massive credit debt, you’re a lunatic.
“The Tea Party Zone “Ⓒ (C) T.M.
The Tea Party started out with a noble goal — stopping the uncontrolled spending in Washington. Not surprisingly, more than a handful of different groups found that idea worthwhile. Among them were Palinistas, Bachmanistas, Perryistas, and, of course, the Religious Right.
Unfortunately, they brought their baggage with them and soon the message of controlled spending and limited government was lost in the pile of that baggage.
Ron Paul is the father of Tea Party (though he didn’t actually “create” it), not Rush or Perry or Palin or Beck or any of those other bozos.
Paul predicted everything we are going through now years ago. Sadly, the establishment likes the status quo and is doing everything they can to hang onto that greased pole.
So you say. This is the earliest influence that I can recollect of what inspired the creation of the Tea Party: http://tinyurl.com/bhzdpo
December 2007, on the 234th anniversary of the Boston Tea Party, Paul’s “money bomb” brought in $6 million in one day. I remember that day distinctly, because I donated more money at one time to a political candidate than I ever had before.
http://tinyurl.com/dh6rf7
It was shortly thereafter, Tea Party Protests started cropping up around the country.
I think the themes differ, no? Tea Party for dollars versus a Tea Party movement putting out of control spending in check.
Tea Party is used for numerous things and I’m not so convinced that Ron Paul’s Tea Party for Dollars had much to do with the Tea Party formation of recent years.
Exactly — it wasn’t some damn politician, it wasn’t some religious nut, it was Rick Santelli that inspired the Tea Party movement.
ok.
None of this really matters since Obama’s re-election is really going to hinge on how bad does the economy have to get before he’s going to suffer from voter backlash.
Of course the mainstream media will downplay his failures so that the sheeple among us will give him a pass.
None of this matters. It’s all camouflage. While we’ve been arguing about republicans and democrats our civil rights and constitution went out the window over the last eight years. Bush and his cronies orchestrated the big push and Obama has been quietly helping it along. It’s too late now – we’ve gone too far to have any hope of turning back. If you keep arguing with each other you can at least pretend to be blissfully ignorant of the things that really matter. Good luck.
Totally agree with you. Dems or Repubes, or even Communist, as long as you’ve got a party, you not having fun.
Standard rant #14:
Face it, our politicians are equipped with the morals of gutter cats.
The problem with republics is the same as with monarchies. After a while, the noble intentions at the start are as dead as the noble individuals which founded the kingdom or the republic. (The methods of creation for either are equally bloody.)
If we want a representative government, we’ll have to create it.
The first thing we do is change from an elected to a selected form of government.
Pick names out an eligible citizen pool and they’re stuck with doing the job for one, and only one, four year term.
There is no such thing as a career in politics. (The only thing worse than getting stuck with somebody who didn’t want the job is getting stuck with some idiot who did, figuring it was going to lift him a few rungs up the social/economic ladder.)
Eligibility requirements are:
• were you born here or are you a naturalized citizen?
• are you a permanent resident in a village, town or city within our borders?
• are you above the age of 25?
• are you healthy enough? (you don’t suffer from any clinical health issue(s) or mental impairment(s) which would prevent you from fulfilling your duties?)
• have you NEVER served on the government before?
• have you NEVER been found guilty of a violent crime?
• have you NEVER been found to be clinically insane?
Answer yes to all of these questions, you’re eligible for selection.
Don’t want to be bothered?
Go live elsewhere!
That would get rid of all PACs, K Street lobbyists, a lot of graft, waste and expense that WE’RE all paying for.
Totally agree. Like I said, no turning back now. Just needs to finish the collapse so we can rebuild. Might take a few years…
No crumpets. A Tea Party without crumpets is doomed.
There’s no such thing as a republican or democrat, only plutocrats these days.
Plutocrats live on a dwarf planet.
No, it is too small to be a planet. They live on a large asteroid.
It was only a matter of time before they made an asteroid of themselves.
The Tea Party in of itself was not a bad idea, the problem is it was hijacked by the Koch brothers and Dick Armey just like Rove did with the Christian Fundamentalist.
“Do you agree or disagree with the Tea Party?”
What kind of question is that? The “great unwashed” will give an answer, but can they elaborate? Most can’t. Most can’t name the Vice-President.
Political polls are fun, but their motives are questionable and their results are ALWAYS temporary.
What a silly world. Party on, Garth!
Drones believe Pew’s nonsense, reality tells a different story—the Tea Party owns the Republican party…its the ruling class elites still in power, the DemoPublicans making deals with Obama, that are the next to go.
2012 will be a landslide, a Reaganesque lurch back to the center right where most of the electorate is.
This time we will make it a goal to rid the education system of socialist loons…its time we stop the propaganda that supplies the propaganda press of the ruling elite with troops, and the judiciary with statists who overturn our propositions and laws for leftist lunacy.
Its possible Miss skew speech Kagan and the wise latina might be recalled…we are that angry.
Alfie, you idiot. The Supremes cannot be recalled. They can only be impeached by the House. And impeachment means they need to be found guilty of a “high crime or misdemeanor” which definition does not include being a political appointee.
I do not really like any of the Republican candidates. Ron Paul makes the most sense. But he has his own agenda that’s out there.
I can’t say Obama has really helped anything in his first term and really expect nothing to change no matter if we re elect Obama or elect a Republican. We will still be faced with a inept Congress and a a Country just tired of it doing nothing. Will that change after the election? I doubt it.
The Republican Party seems to have distanced itself from the Tea Party in order to appeal to moderate and conservative voters during the GOP convention and candidacy debates. They face an overwhelming defeat in 2012 without the trust of their constituency.
I’ve said for a while now. that the Tea Party is the GOP’s Green Party. The Green Party derailed Al Gore’s chances, back in 2004. By siphoning off votes for dark horse candidate Ralph Nader. Who you hear nothing about anymore. So I just figured that the GOP set up the Tea Party, to help them lose the 2012 election. But perhaps the current line up of GOP numskulls are believed bad enough to make them lose. Without the help of Palin or Bachman. Because, they really don’t want to be in charge of correcting the mess that Bush/Chaney, left behind. Until Obama takes enough of the heat for it, and manages to straighten out the situation enough for the GOP to come along and take the credit for it. Just as they did for getting the Iran hostages released, that Carter’s admin negotiated.
Ron Paul is the father of the Tea Party.
Like a lot of Americans I’m not all that fond of some of the candidates running for office but in a way it doesn’t matter because I abominate Obama. He is a worse President than Jimmy Carter by any reasonable measure. I’d vote for any of them to get Obama out of office. I’ll give money to any of them to run against Obama. The sooner that neosocialist retires the better off the nation will be.
deowll, you are so lost from reality. If you were kidnapped by aliens right before the 2008 presidential election and deposited back on earth today, you’d see a president who:
1. Refused to prosecute obvious lawbreakers from the Bush administration — torturers and people who spy without warrants and much more.
2. Refused to prosecute Wall Street criminals, despite lots of evidence that their illegal activities put us in this recession.
3. Introduced a rehash of the 1994 Republican health care proposal, where millions of Americans are forced to buy medical insurance from private companies. The same kind of program that Republican Mitt Romney pushed thru in MA.
4. Not only continued Bush’s spying programs, but claimed the right to assassinate any American anywhere in the world, without any due process — trial, jury, sentencing, none of that.
5. Expressed an interest in cutting Social Security and Medicare.
6. Hired Wall Street insiders as key aides in his administration.
7. Started a couple more wars (Yemen, Libya) without Congressional approval.
8. Continued the tax cuts for the rich.
If you didn’t know the results of the election you’d assume that the Republican won, wouldn’t you?
Obama is not a socialist, deowll. He’s actually a Republican, or rather what was called a Republican a number of years ago. But even Ronald Reagan is too liberal for you Republicans now.
Which is why the “Powers that Be” will be able to slip anything by you. Your still looking at the side show