http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/the-fix/post/has-the-tea-party-become-a-gop-liability/2012/04/05/gIQAqTrdyS_blog.html?wpisrc=nl_pmpolitics
The tea party may have won Republicans the House of Representatives in 2010.
In 2012, it’s looking like it could help Democrats retain the White House.
The tea party movement, now nearly three years old, has fallen out of favor with Americans. And Democrats are prepared to use it against Republicans in the 2012 election.
A recent Fox News poll showed just 30 percent of Americans had a favorable view of the tea party, compared to 51 percent who viewed it unfavorably.
A recent Washington Post/ABC News poll may be more illustrative, though. It showed Americans were more evenly split on the tea party, with 44 percent supporting it and 43 percent opposing it. But just 15 percent of Americans supported the tea party “strongly,” while many more – 26 percent – were “strongly” opposed to it.
That suggests opposition to the tea party is more strident than the tea party itself, which means the movement may be doing the GOP more harm than good.
The numbers are similar to the ones we saw during the health care debate, when both sides had about the same number of supporters, but the opponents were much more avid. And that issue, undoubtedly, benefitted the GOP.
The tea party may have won Republicans the House of Representatives in 2010.
In 2012, it’s looking like it could help Democrats retain the White House.
The tea party movement, now nearly three years old, has fallen out of favor with Americans. And Democrats are prepared to use it against Republicans in the 2012 election.
A recent Fox News poll showed just 30 percent of Americans had a favorable view of the tea party, compared to 51 percent who viewed it unfavorably.
A recent Washington Post/ABC News poll may be more illustrative, though. It showed Americans were more evenly split on the tea party, with 44 percent supporting it and 43 percent opposing it. But just 15 percent of Americans supported the tea party “strongly,” while many more – 26 percent – were “strongly” opposed to it.
That suggests opposition to the tea party is more strident than the tea party itself, which means the movement may be doing the GOP more harm than good.
The numbers are similar to the ones we saw during the health care debate, when both sides had about the same number of supporters, but the opponents were much more avid. And that issue, undoubtedly, benefitted the GOP.