These poll numbers were released earlier today by Rasmussen Reports -- "an electronic publishing firm specializing in the collection, publication, and distribution of public opinion polling information."
26% Say They're Part of Tea Party Movement Or Know Someone Who Is
Wednesday, August 25, 2010
With mid-term elections just over two months away, roughly one-in-four U.S. voters (26%) say they consider themselves part of the Tea Party movement or have close friends or family members who are involved with it.
A new Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey finds that 13% of voters say they themselves are Tea Party members. Thirteen percent (13%) more say they have close friends or family members who are part of the Tea Party movement, a loose knit group of Americans nationwide protesting big government and high taxes.
Sixty percent (60%) say they have no ties to the movement, but that's down nine points from late May . Fourteen percent (14%) are not sure.
Forty-three percent (43%) of voters have a favorable opinion of the Tea Party movement, while 36% view it unfavorably. Twenty-one percent (21%) are undecided. These numbers have changed little in surveys all year.
In April of last year, however, after the first "tea parties" were held on Tax Day, 51% of Americans had a favorable view of those gatherings, including 32% who said their view of the events was Very Favorable.
The Political Class continues to view the Tea Party movement with a jaundiced eye. While 56% of Mainstream voters have a favorable view of the movement, 89% of those in the Political Class view it unfavorably.
The survey of 1,000 Likely Voters was conducted on August 23-24, 2010 by Rasmussen Reports. The margin of sampling error is +/- 3 percentage points with a 95% level of confidence. Field work for all Rasmussen Reports surveys is conducted by Pulse Opinion Research, LLC . See methodology.
Nearly one-out-of-two voters (48%) believe the Tea Party movement is good for the country, comparable to findings in May . Twenty-nine percent (29%) say the movement is bad for America, and 13% say it's neither.
But just 29% say they are at least somewhat likely to attend a Tea Party rally, including eight percent (8%) who say they are Very Likely to do so. Sixty-five percent (65%) are unlikely to attend such a rally, with 29% who are Not At All Likely to go. These findings also are unchanged from May.
Twenty-five percent (25%) of Republicans say they are members of the Tea Party movement, compared to just two percent (2%) of Democrats and 14% of voters not affiliated with either major party.
GOP voters and unaffiliateds are much more likely than Democrats to regard the movement as good for the country.
Sixty-one percent (61%) of Mainstream voters say the Tea Party movement is good for America. Seventy-four percent (74%) of the Political Class think it's bad for the country.
The Tea Party movement defies easy description. But earlier Rasmussen Reports surveying provides some glimpses into the movement, including the overwhelming beliefs among its members that the federal government is a special interest group and that government and big business work together in ways that hurt consumers and investors.
Sixty-five percent (65%) of voters remain at least somewhat angry at the current policies of the federal government , including 40% who are Very Angry.
In April, 48% of voters said the average Tea Party member is closer to their views than President Obama is. Forty-four percent (44%) said the president's views are closer to their own.
Forty-eight percent (48%) of voters now regard Obama's political views as extreme. But slightly more (55%) describe the views of former Alaska Governor Sarah Palin, a favorite of many Tea Party members, as extreme.
Most voters in the country now believe the president and the average Democratic member of Congress are more liberal, politically speaking, than they are.
Fifty-seven percent (57%) think the Democratic congressional agenda is extreme. A plurality (45%) view the GOP agenda as mainstream.
Fifty-two percent (52%) said in a March survey that they believe the average member of the Tea Party movement has a better understanding of the issues facing America today than the average member of Congress.
Most voters continue to say it would be better for the country if the majority of Congress is thrown out this November.