Tea Party at Year's End
Wednesday, December 22, 2010
The Tea Party movement was one of the biggest political stories during the 2010 election season. From an electoral standpoint, the grassroots movement had it first impact by forcing long-time Senator Arlen Specter out of the Republican Party (and eventually out of the U.S. Senate). By the end of the season, several Tea Party candidates such as Florida’s Marco Rubio and Kentucky’s Rand Paul were elected to the U.S. Senate.
A plurality of voters nationwide expect these Tea Party candidates to sell out and become just like other politicians. However, Tea Party activists are much more confident that these candidates will remain true to their beliefs. Pressure from the Tea Party clearly played a role in the lame duck session of Congress and may be largely responsible for the tax cut deal that was signed by President Obama.
Forty-one percent (41%) believe the Tea Party movement will be stronger in 2012 than it was in 2010.
At year's end, 21% of voters nationwide consider themselves part of the Tea Party movement. Another 11% have close friends or family members who are involved.
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Eighty percent (80%) of Tea Party members consider themselves politically conservative, and 64% are Republicans. Twenty-eight percent (28%) are not affiliated with either major party, while eight percent (8%) are Democrats.
There are roughly equal numbers of men and women in the movement. Tea Party members tend to be a bit older than the population at large. Only eight percent (8%) of those under 30 consider themselves part of the movement. Ninety-two percent (92%) of Tea Party members are white.
The Tea Party is part of a larger group that is frustrated with the political status quo. That larger group, identified as Mainstream voters, includes a solid majority of Americans. Mainstream voters tend to trust the wisdom of the American people more than the ideologies of politicians. Among the larger group of Mainstream voters, 25% consider themselves part of the Tea Party movement. Another 11% have friends or family members in the movement.
MAD AS HELL: How the Tea Party Movement is Fundamentally Remaking Our Two-Party System, the new book by Scott Rasmussen and Doug Schoen, presents a far more detailed look at the authentic grassroots movement that shook up American politics this year. It can be ordered at Amazon.com, Barnes and Noble, Borders and other outlets and is available in bookstores everywhere.
In a book released earlier this year, Scott Rasmussen observed that "the gap between Americans who want to govern themselves and politicians who want to rule over them may be as big today as the gap between the colonies and England during the 18th century." He added that “the American people don’t want to be governed from the left, the right, or the center. They want to govern themselves.” In Search of Self-Governance is available at Amazon.com. |
