Who are these TEA PARTY NUTS?

Reading The Tea Leaves

Liberal elites, who pride themselves on their tolerance, have found a new favorite hobby in mocking the Tea Party and its supporters. For example, one liberal politician said last week that the Tea Party demonstrates the “hardcore angry side” of America, but “without robes and hoods.” He went on to accuse the Tea Party of projecting “hostility to anybody who wasn’t just a clone of George Wallace’s fan club.”

Politicians might want to think twice before consigning the Tea Party and its supporters to the fringe of American politics. In recent weeks, there have been several interesting polls on the Tea Party. If these polls are even remotely accurate, the Tea Party is more main-stream than the talking heads care to admit.

A recent Rasmussen poll found that 48% of voters believe that the “average Tea Party member is closer to their views than President Obama,” while 44% of voters said they felt the president’s views were closer to their own. Among Independent voters, the Tea Party won easily by a 50%-to-38% margin. When Rasmussen compared the Tea Party to Congress, 47% of voters felt the Tea Party was closer to their views, while just 26% chose Congress.

The Winston Group polled 3,000 registered voters between December and February. Of those who identified as “part of the Tea Party movement,” 57% were Republicans, 28% were Independents and 13% were Democrats. That means 41% of Tea Party members are either Independent voters or Democrats!

A new Gallup poll finds that 28% of adults nationwide consider themselves “supporters” of the Tea Party. According to Gallup’s poll, 49% of Tea Party supporters identified as Republicans, 43% identified as Independents and 8% identified as Democrats. So a majority (51%) of Tea Party members identify as either Independents or Democrats.

After analyzing all the data, Gallup concluded, “Tea Party supporters are decidedly … conservative in their leanings. …In several other respects, however – their age, educational background, employment status, and race – Tea Partiers are quite representative of the public at large.”

-Gary Bauer-American Values