Many Ways To Describe A TEA Party Movement

The number of people who say they’re part of the Tea Party Movement nationally has grown to 24%. That’s up from 16% a month ago, but the movement still defies easy description.
Some on the political left see nothing but hate, while some on the right see a threat to Republican prospects. Others see a grass roots movement that is challenging a corrupt Political Class and trying to save the nation from politicians.


Click to view image: 'Navy Jack'

New data from Rasmussen Reports national telephone surveying provides some glimpses into the Tea Party movement:

• Among those who are part of the movement, 89% disapprove of the way that Barack Obama is handling his job as president. That figure includes 82% who Strongly Disapprove.

• Only four percent (4%) believe the nation is heading in the right direction, while 96% believe it is off on the wrong track.

• Ninety-four percent (94%) believe the federal government has become a special interest group that looks out primarily for its own interests. That view is held by 67% of all voters nationwide.

• Seventy-four percent (74%) believe that government and big business work together in ways that hurt consumers and investors. That’s very close to the national average. Sixty-nine percent (69%) of all voters hold that view.

• Ninety-six percent (96%) of those in the Tea Party movement believe America is overtaxed.

• By a 94%-to-one-percent (1%) margin, those in the Tea Party movement trust the judgment of the American people more than America’s political leaders. At the other extreme, among those who don’t know anybody in the Tea Party movement, 54% trust the people, and 24% trust the politicians.

• Eighty percent (80%) in the Tea Party movement are white. Six percent (6%) are African-American.

• Fifty-five percent (55%) of those in the Tea Party movement are Republicans, 14% Democrats. Keep in mind that 75% of Republican voters say that GOP leaders are out of touch with the party’s base.

• Seventy-eight percent (78%) are politically conservative. Other research has shown that more than 40% of conservatives nationwide do not consider themselves Republicans.

• On the Generic Congressional Ballot, 78% say they’ll vote for a Republican. Seven percent (7%) prefer a Democrat.

This data is based upon a survey of 2,000 Likely Voters nationwide. The survey included 24% who consider themselves part of the Tea Party Movement.


HAVE A GREAT TEA PARTY DAY!


Rasmussen Report