Tea Party’s Approval Rating Drops To New Low – New Gallup Poll
“The Tea Party’s leadership and activities may have been more successful at galvanizing the movement’s opponents than expanding its base of passionate supporters.”
Americans’ approval of the Tea Party has dropped to an all-time low since the nascent unorganized group came into existence three years ago. Now, only 25% of Americans support the Tea Party, while 28% oppose it. Almost half of all Americans, 46%, have no opinion or neither support or oppose the so-called movement, according to a new Gallup poll taken after the contentious Congressional debate on raising the debt ceiling. Unsurprisingly, the South is the only region in which more people supported than opposed the Tea Party.
“More Americans consider themselves strong opponents of the Tea Party movement than strong supporters, by 20% to 14%, and the ratio is a similar 22% to 15% among registered voters,” Gallup reports.
“One of the more striking findings of the Aug. 4-7Â USA Today/Gallup poll is that nearly half of self-described liberals, 48%, consider themselves strong opponents of the Tea Party, significantly greater than the 30% of conservatives calling themselves strong supporters. Similarly, by 39% to 31%, there are more strong Democratic opponents than strong Republican supporters. Among independents, 14% are strong supporters and an equal number are strong opponents.”
“Residents of the East are less likely than those in other regions to be strong Tea Party supporters, and the East has the highest percentage of strong opponents. The South, however, is the only region where strong supporters outnumber strong opponents (17% vs. 11%).”
“The national Tea Party movement appears to have lost some ground in popular support after the blistering debate over raising the nation’s debt ceiling in which Tea Party Republicans in the U.S. House and Senate fought any compromise on taxes and spending. Fourteen percent of Americans consider themselves strong supporters of the Tea Party movement, and, perhaps not coincidentally, 12% of the public consists of conservative Republicans who wanted members of Congress who shared their views on the budget to hold out for a deal they could agree with. That is according to a July 15-17 Gallup poll on the debt ceiling debate.
“Along with the decline in overall support for the Tea Party from 30% to 25% in recent months, Gallup finds more Americans holding intensely negative feelings toward the movement than intensely positive feelings. It thus appears that, to date, the Tea Party’s leadership and activities may have been more successful at galvanizing the movement’s opponents than expanding its base of passionate supporters.”
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