CNN Poll: Unfavorable view of Tea Party on the rise

[highplainsdem]

Source: CNN

CNN Poll: Unfavorable view of Tea Party on the rise
By the CNN Wire Staff
March 30, 2011 6:01 a.m. EDT


(CNN) -- Nearly half of all Americans have an unfavorable view of the Tea Party movement, putting it in the same company as the Democratic and Republican parties, according to a new national poll.

A CNN/Opinion Research Corporation survey released Wednesday indicates that 32% of the public have a favorable view of the two-year-old anti-tax movement, which also calls for less government spending and a more limited role for the federal government in our lives. The 32% favorable rating is down five points from December.

The people questioned for the poll who say they have an unfavorable view of the Tea Party is 47%, up four points from December and an increase of 21 points from January 2010. That number is virtually identical to the 48% unfavorable ratings for both the Democratic Party and the Republican Party in the same poll.

"This is the first time that a CNN poll has shown the Tea Party's unfavorable ratings as high as those of the two major parties," said CNN Polling Director Keating Holland. "It looks like the rise in the movement's unfavorable rating has come mostly among people who make less than $50,000."

-snip-e

Read more: http://www.cnn.com/2011/POLITICS/03/30/tea.party.view/

---

Editing to include the difference in the favorable ratings:

Democrats 46%
Republicans 44%
Tea Party 32%


Editing again after finding the Politico story on the poll

http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0311/52207.html

since I was checking additional news stories for a link to the PDF file with the complete poll results (I didn't see a link to it in the CNN story, but Politico had it):

http://i2.cdn.turner.com/cnn/2011/images/03/29/rel4l.pdf

The poll showed the Tea Party had a favorable rating of only 33% in January of last year, but then in several later polls between April and December of last year, had a favorable ration of between 36 and 38%, before dropping to 32% in this new poll.

But the real story here is the unfavorable rating, which was only 26% in January of last year, and which has been climbing steadily ever since except for a decline from 40 to 37% between September and October, before climbing again in each poll until reaching 47% now.

This is how the Favorable Rating for the Tea Party breaks down:

Favorable - Total 32%

Men 39%
Women 26%

White 37%
Non-White 21%

Age Under 50 29%
Age 50 And Older 36%

Income Under $50K 32%
Income $50K Or Over 34%

No College 32%
Attended College 33%

Democrat 10%
Independent 31%
Republican 61%

Liberal 9%
Moderate 19%
Conservative 56%

Northeast 32%
Midwest 31%
South 34%
West 31%

Urban 30%
Suburban 34%
Rural 33%

[doc03]

1. That it would be as high as 32% is a bit scary n/t

[BobbyBoring]

9. True Dat

Nearly a 3rd of our citizens approve of far right whack jobs?

[highplainsdem]

11. That's the right wing base. The last ones approving of Bush, for instance.

[underpants]

25. 32% -given that they have the #1 "news" network endlessly promoting them that is low

it should be much higher.

Fox News HOSTED Tea Bagger events for crying out loud.

[abelenkpe]

2. Shocking

That folks would not view pasty upper middle class angry white bigots who rail against immigrants, teachers, unions, firefighters, police, government, Muslims, stimulus to keep people working and HCR to provide care to a few more. (did I leave anyone out?) I mean really they're such a friendly bunch. :P

[Aerows]

16. You forgot gay people

It's understandable, though, since they hate so many different groups it's hard to keep track of them all.

[LynneSin]

3. The voters gave them the chance and now have serioius buyers remorse

I could have told them this would not have ended nicely. Now Wisconsin, Michigan, Florida, Pennsylvania, Maine and Ohio are stuck with horrible governors that are hard pressed to ruin the middle class.

[Zambero]

15. Grass roots is replacing Astroturf as the credible populist voice

I don't recall seeing to many "Don't tread on me!" flags, or TeaParty-toting signs decrying tyrants in those states these days. Apparently these people do favor being treaded on by gov't more than they would care to admit, as long as the treading comes courtesy of big-monied interests intent on securing a permanant oligarchy and marginilizing the middle class. This gaggle of newly-installed right wing governors has severely underestimated the degree of backlash that has occurred, and it's just the beginning.

[cstanleytech]

4. You know whats funny is that its not even a real party

but its in essence the far right loons who are really republicans for the most part slapping a new name on themselves in the hopes of fooling people into thinking they are something new.

[Scuba]

5. Americans think politicians suck. No wonder so many stay home on election day. n/t

[PSPS]

6. "a more limited role for the federal government in our lives"

A CNN/Opinion Research Corporation survey released Wednesday indicates that 32% of the public have a favorable view of the two-year-old anti-tax movement, which also calls for less government spending and a more limited role for the federal government in our lives. The 32% favorable rating is down five points from December.

You know it's propaganda when an article uses that to describe what is, in fact, an astroturf "movement" whose sole purpose is to eliminate taxes and regulation on big business and the rich.

[Historic NY]

7. Suckers, we tried to tell them that those wrapped in the flag were out for themselves....

now they're waking up....tea party same as the old grand old party only loonier.

[Here4DaLinks]

24. The Athenian definition of the word 'idiot' seems to apply here!

"An idiot in Athenian democracy was someone who was characterized by self-centeredness and concerned almost exclusively with private--as opposed to public--affairs.<1> Idiocy was the natural state of ignorance into which all persons were born and its opposite, citizenship, was effected through formalized education.<1> In Athenian democracy, idiots were born and citizens were made through education (although citizenship was also largely hereditary).

Today, educators and political scientists increasingly resurrect this terminology's etymological origins in order to discuss a growing major problem with modern American republican democracy: self-centeredness. They do so in order to understand the major modern problem in American participatory government in apathy in distinguishing between its underlying causes: idiocy (self-centeredness) and alienation.

(cut)


Idiocy shares with idiom and idiosyncratic the root idios, which means private, separate, self-centered -- selfish. 'Idiotic' was in the Greek context a term of reproach. When a person's behavior became idiotic--concerned myopically with private things and unmindful of common things--then the person was believed to be like a rudderless ship, without consequence save for the danger it posed to others. This meaning of idiocy achieves its force when contrasted with polites (citizens) or public. Here we have a powerful opposition: the private individual versus the public citizen...An idiot is one whose self-centeredness undermines his or her citizen identity, causing it to wither or never to take root in the first place. Private gain is the goal, and the community had better not get in the way. An idiot is suicidal in a certain way, definitely self-defeating, for the idiot does not know that privacy and individual autonomy are entirely dependent on the community. As Aristotle wrote, 'Individuals are so many parts all equally depending on the whole which alone can bring self-sufficiency.' Idiots do not take part in public life; they do not have a public life. In this sense, idiots are immature in the most fundamental way. Their lives are out of balance, disoriented, untethered, and unrealized. Tragically, idiots have not yet met the challenge of 'puberty,' which is the transition to public life."

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Idiot_(Athenian_democracy)
Is it working now? You may have to cut and paste http addy.

[freshwest]

35. I'd never heard of that definition. They were great thinkers. Thanks.

[highplainsdem]

8. I've edited the OP to include detailed information from the poll, breaking down the favorable rating

by gender, age, income, etc.

The breakdown shows the Tea Party is most popular with older white male conservative Republicans.

Which certainly isn't a surprise.

But it's great news for Dems that voters have a less favorable view of the Tea Party now.

[FailureToCommunicate]

10. Older white Republican men. Now there's a surprise. Probably also

FOX noise watching, social security and medicare receiving pensioners with time on there hands to get bussed to Tea party "rallies"

Come on Koch Brothers,time for more cash to be thrown at them...

[pampango]

12. Not too surprising the 10% of Dems (Blue Dogs?) support it, but 9% of liberals?

What would any liberal see in the tea party that they could support?

Of course, not surprising to see favorability ratings skewed towards older, whiter, male conservative repubs.

A little surprising to see that there is no divergence based on income or education.

[OnionPatch]

28. I think they're just seriously confused.

They definitely don't know what liberals stand for if they support the tea party in any way. Maybe they got confused when they read about "neoliberal" trade policies somewhere.

[No Elephants]

13. Didn't anyone besides Scuba read beyond the headline?

Teabaggera were seen MORE favorably than Democrats and Republicans. Now, all 3 are seen equally badly.

"Nearly half of all Americans have an unfavorable view of the Tea Party movement, putting it in the same company as the Democratic and Republican parties, according to a new national poll."

<snip

The people questioned for the poll who say they have an unfavorable view of the Tea Party is 47%, up four points from December and an increase of 21 points from January 2010. That number is virtually identical to the 48% unfavorable ratings for both the Democratic Party and the Republican Party in the same poll."

[WingDinger]

14. This is wonderful. This means working class is learning the truth.

They are the enemy. That tea party is false populism. Bizzaro populism.

[No Elephants]

20. Tea Party, Democratic Party and Republican Party now all rated about the same.

[WingDinger]

22. biggest drop those below 50,000

[provis99]

27. that's the scary part.

In the urge to celebrate the decline of the tea party, people are forgetting that the Tea Party is just as popular as the Democratic and Republican parties, despite the Tea Party being extremist wackjobs.

[greiner3]

17. The Tea Baggers have outlived their usefullness;

It's time for the Republican Party-read uber rich-to reign them in and get on with power consolidation. Negative news reporting will be on the rise now and these poor misguided people will fade into obscurity, although having performed their masters' aims and goals.

[Here4DaLinks]

30. They're still needed to muddy debate when election time rolls around, they'll be here for awhile. nt

[ck4829]

18. The Tea Party is the establishment with an anti-establishment logo

I'm surprised that people haven't woken up to this sooner.

[RedCloud]

19. Most don't even know the Teabaggers' stupid plans to begin with.

[highplainsdem]

23. True. We're seeing buyer's remorse in a lot of states now.

[onehandle]

21. We need to make it clearer that the Tea Party is the modern Klan.

People need to wake up.

[fascisthunter]

26. and Now Americans Know Who They Are...

:rofl:

[CBHagman]

29. Thanks for providing the breakdown, highplainsdem.

That provides a bit of context!

[progressoid]

31. 32%??

:wtf:

[GReedDiamond]

32. That means that Repugs are 2 times as unfavorable...

...as Democrats, the way I do the math.

Because so-called "Tea Party" teabaggers are just another wing of the RNC.

[Initech]

33. There never should have been a favorable view of the tea party to begin with.

[BillyJack]

34. There are soooooooooooo many more families who make under $50,000/year these days

THAT's the problem.

Somebody didn't read, "who moved my cheese", I guess.....

Geeez........:eyes:

[tomp]

36. good news, 50% see dominant political parties as bad!!!! nt

[JoeyT]

37. And this is with constant fawning media attention from pretty much every network.

Imagine what the numbers would look like if the media did its job once in a while.