Tea Party Support Dwindles to Near-Record Low

[highplainsdem]

Source: Gallup

PRINCETON, NJ -- As Washington braces for another budget showdown, this time with the threat of defunding the new healthcare law in the mix, the key political force pushing for conservative policies sees diminished popular support. Fewer Americans now describe themselves as supporters of the Tea Party movement than did at the height of the movement in 2010, or even at the start of 2012. Today's 22% support nearly matches the record low found two years ago.

-snip-

Opponents of the Tea Party now outnumber supporters 27% to 22%, which is similar to their edge in 2012. However this differs from most of Gallup's earlier measurements, in 2010 and 2011, when supporters and opponents were either equally matched, or Tea Party backers had the slight edge.

-snip-

In addition to their overall advantage in numbers, opponents of the Tea Party also lead supporters in intensity. The majority of Tea Party opponents call themselves strong opponents, while supporters are evenly divided as strong and not strong supporters. The net result is that 17% of Americans consider themselves strong opponents of the Tea Party, contrasted with 11% who are strong supporters, similar to the balance seen in 2011.

-snip-

The poll suggests that the partnership between the Tea Party and the Republican Party may be waning. Although some of the Tea Party's most visible representatives in politics today are associated with the Republican Party, and while rank-and-file Republicans are more likely to call themselves supporters than opponents of the Tea Party movement -- a far greater number identify as neither.

-snip-


Read more: http://www.gallup.com/poll/164648/tea-party-support-dwindles-near-record-low.aspx

[stonecutter357]

1. K&R

Good!

[get the red out]

2. I hope the news media takes note

These idiots aren't winning popularity contests.

[redstatebluegirl]

5. No they are winning elections state and local mainly.

That is the plan, now they want to take the whole country. They have gerrymandered districts that will reelect them every time! If we take back our state and local elections t will still take us until the next census to fix it.

[starroute]

9. The gerrymandering only works if they beat mainstream Republicans in primaries

If they can't do that, they don't get to take over the country. If they can't at least mount a credible threat of doing that, they can no longer force Republican incumbents to support hard-right policies.

It would also help, of course, if the Republican leadership in the House abandons the Hastert Rule and announces that for the good of the country they're prepared to work with Democrats to pass sensible bipartisan legislation. I'm not holding my breath for that one -- I think John Boehner's got his ego bound up in it -- but it has to happen eventually.

[Warpy]

27. Large out of state contributions help them do just that

That's the reason teabagger candidates are winning so many elections. Most people vote for the name they recognize, only to find out later the guy is nuts.

[AlinPA]

38. IMO, the "republican mainstream" are the teabaggers. They have taken over the party and

control the US House. As far as my state is concerned, PA is almost all teabagger-controlled now. (State House, State Senate, Governor, 1 US Senate seat)

[freshwest]

28. They are going for all state offices, but they don't use the brand name, just the dog whistles.

Some run as independents or Democrats, then change their party affiliation to GOP as soon as they get electefd off the work and money of the DP. They hide behind innocent sounding slogans and then show themselves.

Newer voters that I've worked with, especially immigrants, don't know the history and sometimes get hoodwinked. They run on slogans about liberty, freedom, education, jobs and supporting families. But they don't say what kind. Many immigrants I know find the Democratic Party message of a social safety including support to small business, education and civil rights attractive, but don't understand that half the people running on the ballot are pathological liars who don't mean what they think they do.

It's hard to argue without history. Politics on the state level has become almost byzantine in nature with so much deception and code words used to beguile the young or less informed voters. And conservatives own radio, print, cable news and flood the internet so there are few search results that aren't skewed to their views. We are swimming upstream in a sewer. I hate their mockery of democratic process that they are acting out here.

I doubt this poll means much, certainly not what hope it does. There was always a strong Libertarian streak in the Tea Party and now they are going openly to that brand. And it is all 'brand' with the GOP. They change the name but the agenda stays the same.

Just because their rustic version of the GOP has taken a hit, the same money supports it. The proliferation of new and more extreme religious and conservative organizations are just another branding by the Koch brothers, et al.


Just my opinion.

[ChairmanAgnostic]

7. UpChuck Todd, for example? Never.

It would require performing a feat of real journalism on their part. I suspect most of their employment contracts preclude such activity.

[Enthusiast]

34. I like this. "feat of real journalism"

I'm with you.

[SummerSnow]

3. They were full of crap at their inception...

so they will be full of crap when they finally disappear




let's just watch the festivities

[brewens]

16. It didn't last long but the very first reports of "Tea Party" activity weren't all bad.

They were stoked up about tax payer bailouts. I think it scared the crap out or the people calling the shots for the Republican party to see mostly conservative people fired up about that. That's why they quickly stepped in and took control. Most of the morans jumping on the bandwagon didn't know any better. By then it was just a new slogan for right-wing Republicans. Of course now it's taken a little new direction and those people the Tea Party got elected are screwing things up for the rest of the Republicans.

[JonLP24]

4. I still can't believe they have that many

K&R

[Plucketeer]

8. The "stupid" is epidemic in this country

and those overseeing education are trying to expand the affliction. When you stop to think about it, Tea Partiers know the second amendment (all but the "well regulated" facet) and NO other amendments. When you just say NO to everything because it's a word you were able to spell in grammar school - you're willfully ignorant of the finer details of government and proud of it.

[llmart]

36. Good point....

Accurate too.

[nxylas]

10. Me neither

I thought the figure was about 13%.

[Baitball Blogger]

6. I hope that means that Rick Scott (FL) doesn't have a base to stand on.

[HooptieWagon]

12. Oh, the teabaggers will still vote for him.

And he'll capture most of the republican voters. He's lost swing voters and a handful of republicans.

[seveneyes]

11. Gee, that's too bad

Bomb Bomb Bomb McCain is likely pleased with this news. He can discuss it over tea with his new buddy Cruz.

[truebluegreen]

14. fwiw, McLame hates Ted Cruz...

at least in part for getting between him and the cameras.

[LittleGirl]

13. Maybe so but the Media seems to keep giving them the microphone

and Frankly, I'm sick of their nonsense. I wished they would shut 'er down!

[Andy823]

15. Yes they do get the microphone but,

When they get the chance to spew their insane ideas, it only helps them with their insane base. The more they are allowed to talk, the more "sane" people can see just how bad it would be to keep these idiots in office. Cruz may have made a lot of money off his base with his long speech the other day, but the fact that he gave that long speech, then turned around and voted for the bill he was trying to get fellow republicans to vote no on, well that pretty much made him look like an idiot to most people. His own party wants to throw him under the bus, the just don't have the guts to do it, yet, because the tea party base loves him so much.

[LittleGirl]

17. ouch. I missed that tidbit

about him voting for the bill...wahaaaahaaaa. that's hysterical! thanks for the response. I truly missed that.

[Spitfire of ATJ]

22. Ted is looking to do the rounds on RW Talk Radio for free publicity.

[Mellow Drama]

18. Supporting more "moderate" republicans in some cases advances our progressive causes

We are studying Saul Alinsky, and one of his tenets was to inflict damage from within. The GOP is so divided that all we have to do is to back the "moderates" until the Tea Party is defeated, then we just defeat the moderates and no more republicans.

[brer cat]

19. Many of us do not realize that many early tea party supporters

were actually sane, thoughtful individuals who wanted to challenge republicans as well as democrats. For example, a former tea party supporter talked with me recently, and she started with the republicans trying to destroy the postal service as one of her hot issues. She was furious that the republicans had forced USPS to fund pensions for employees not even hired yet. She moved on to entitlements...and I thought she would surely start talking about "welfare queens", but instead she talked about hand-outs to corporations, subsidies for corporate farms, and off-shoring of profits to avoid paying taxes. In the beginning she thought these would be the types of issues the tea party would address, but she said they had turned crazy (her word) and she no longer associated with them.

Now I know she is a republican and that she and I are poles apart on social issues, but we do have some common ground and I am glad to see these people fleeing the tea party.

[Spitfire of ATJ]

25. The original Tea Party was an arm of the Ron Paul campaign...

Liberals were thrilled to find an anti-war Republican but after they got to hear him on other issues and realized he was an asshole in his own way. His reason for being anti-war was the same reason he wanted to do away with the post office, they both cost money. Then he would go on about government providing far too much,...like water into our homes.

[brer cat]

26. True, and I will never want to get in bed with any of them.

I am just glad to see saner republicans fleeing these fringe groups. They may not vote dem, but at least they will oppose the crazy and maybe elect a moderate we can work with.

[Spitfire of ATJ]

29. We need Willie Nelson to get the Country Folks to remember "Farm Aid" was a LIBERAL thing.

[Cryptoad]

20. Its hard to have a Successful Political Movement

that doesn't understand the word compromise!

[Spitfire of ATJ]

21. Some CALL themselves supporters out of fear that they will be called "Liberal".

[Dawson Leery]

23. 1 out of 5. That seems right.

[Jefferson23]

24. To me this reads as the following, we, Republicans, don't know what the fuck we are.

Dissolve and disintegrate asap, all of them.

[Tarheel_Dem]

30. K&R

[BillyRibs]

31. It's time to do to the tea Party what they wanted to do to the US goverment.

Drown them in a bath tub!

[Doctor_J]

32. and yet they still set the agenda for the entire country

Go figure

[PSPS]

33. 20% support at large, but 100% support by corporate/state media owners

The media and the teabaggers both get paid out of the same wallet.

[Enthusiast]

35. This is the true key to the Teabagger phenomenon.

Rank and file Teabaggers do not even suspect that they are tools of corporate America.

[Blue Owl]

37. Tea Party turns into drunken Booze Cruz

n/t

[Ash_F]

39. I am genuinely disappointed to hear this.

I was hoping for a long Republican power struggle.

[blkmusclmachine]

40. Meh. We'll still never see the end of the DEMS constant caving to the lunatics.

[FUMCSDLCBDPOS]

41. It does not matter what you call em, Bagger or Republican, when the bottom

line is they are ALL Fascists.

They will find another silly name for the next crop to lead the lemmings to their death.