<<<The political future we still don't understand is the degree to which this anger has moved into independents and/or some Dems. The polling over the next couple of weeks will be interesting but, if past is prologue, we may not know until the actual turnout. Something gets these folks to the polls.>>>
You are probably right and that is scary.
September 15, 2010, 1:56 pm
Poll Finds Mixed Views, or None at All, on Tea Party
By DALIA SUSSMAN
Christine O’Donnell’s win in last night’s Republican primary for the United States Senate in Delaware shines another bright spotlight on the Tea Party movement, prompting the question: What impact will it have in a general election?
A new New York Times/CBS News poll finds that views of the Tea Party movement are mixed, with 23 percent of registered voters viewing it favorably and 29 percent unfavorably. But nearly half of voters say they are undecided or haven’t heard enough about the Tea Party movement yet to have an opinion.
That can be a blessing for Tea Party activists: It provides them with the opportunity to define the movement to many voters and help shape their views of it between now and Election Day –- a much easier task than having to change views that are already established. But at the same time, it also gives opponents an opening to define the movement (in a highly negative light) for them.
Close to half of Republican voters, 48 percent, say they have a favorable opinion of the movement, while nearly all the rest say they have no opinion of it yet. Among independent voters –- a group that will be critical for the Tea Party’s success in November –- more have a negative view of the movement than a positive one (18 percent favorable, 30 percent unfavorable), but most have no opinion.
The poll finds that the broad majority of the Tea Party movement’s supporters are Republicans. Over all, 20 percent of registered voters say they consider themselves supporters of the Tea Party movement, including more than 4 in 10 Republicans, but just 15 percent of independents and 5 percent of Democrats consider themselves backers.
Independent voters’ views of the Tea Party movement have actually turned a bit more negative since an April Times/CBS poll, and the number of independent supporters of the movement is down 8 points since then. As the Tea Party movement woos voters heading into Election Day, the lack of broader appeal is surely something they’ll be looking to –- and needing to -– change.
The nationwide telephone poll was conducted Sept. 10 to Sept. 14 with 881 registered voters and has a margin of sampling error of plus or minus 3 percentage points. Complete poll results and N article will be available this evening at NYTimes.com. |
