Tea Party Movement Getting Americans Steamed
arthurdent
Posts: 969
http://tpmdc.talkingpointsmemo.com/2011 ... teamed.php
The debt ceiling fight turned out to be a damper on the American economy, and for the approval ratings of political leaders in Washington. But it's starting to consume the same political entity that decided to make raising it a major issue: the Tea Party. Last week saw the release of three separate polls that showed Americans are not just more skeptical of their movement, but growing tired of their role in the political process, which builds on previous evidence that the Tea Party is being pushed away by independent voters.
The Tea Party movement, as an idea, was originally about anger at the way things turned out after 2008. Congress had been taken over by Democrats, and President Obama came into office after a change election with high approval ratings and the political capital to make that change. Then, surprisingly, those Democrats didn't work to enact Republican policies, they proposed and passed a few of their own. This was not how government is supposed to work, according to some very conservative Americans.
So they got some signs and some bags of tea and a few video cameras followed. They protested what they called an oncoming wave of socialism perpetrated by the Democrats who controlled the legislative and executive branches of government. Then they went to some town halls and yelled about the possible reforms to the American health care system. When that passed, they started supporting candidates for Congress that not only advocated the policies they wanted but also held the same contempt for the government process that they did. Then some of those candidates won, and they had to govern.
That's really when more Americans started to have a more formed opinion on the Tea Party, and over the last few months that opinion has been turning increasingly sour.
"The Tea Party has become somewhat less popular over time, even before the current debt crisis," said Carroll Doherty, Assistant Director of the Pew Research Center for the People & the Press. Pew itself had released some data showing as much: in April of this year there had been a fifteen point jump in the negative rating of the Tea Party amongst all voters in a Pew survey, up from a similar survey in March of 2010.
The Tea Party movement actually registered some decent favorability ratings when their associated members of Congress first arrived. There was a plurality in some polls that showed support for it when they were campaigning, which could mean a number of things. First, despite the conservative positions, the Tea Party presented an opportunity for people's hope to break the traditional political orthodoxy. Partisan bickering is never popular. So when a group of people come along who don't call themselves either Democrats or Republicans, why not give them a chance, and some people clearly did.
Doherty pressed that many Americans, except those who are most engaged, still don't know what to make of the movement. "A lot of people still saying they have no opinion. Large percentages in these surveys are suggesting they don't know much about it," he said. "Because of its diffuse nature, there's no single [Tea Party] leader, and it's still not quite a familiar group to a lot of Americans."
That certainly shows up in the numbers: the New York Times and CBS News ran a similar question in April of this year and in the first week of August, asking Americans if they had a favorable or unfavorable view of the Tea Party. The amount with "no opinion" changed little, as 43% were undecided in April, then 39% in August. But the negatives in the favorable/unfavorable pairing went up significantly in the same time period: it was 26 -29 in April, then 20 - 40 in August, directly after the debt deal was announced.
But in general, those who know the Tea Party are taking a more negative view. A CNN poll in January of 2010 showed that 33% of Americans had a favorable view of the Tea Party, against 26% who held an unfavorable view, and 24% who had never heard of it. A Washington Post/Pew poll from January of this year showed a small plurality 27%, thought the Tea Party supported candidates would have a positive effect on Congress, against 18% who thought they would be negative, and 39% who thought they wouldn't make a difference.
As the Tea Party has actually effected policy (see: the debt ceiling showdown) those numbers have definitely changed. A new WaPo/Pew poll with the same question now finds that only 22% think the Tea Party is having a positive effect in Congress, and 29% think they're having a negative effect, with 25% saying neither. The latest CNN numbers have shown a near doubling of those who have an unfavorable view of the Tea Partiers: from the 26% in January 2010, the unfavorable number has climbed to 51% in a poll conducted from August 5-7. And Gallup has tracked the popularity of the Tea Party movement, showing it with the lowest level of support since they've been polling the issue.
With the large plurality in these polls still saying they have no opinion about the Tea Party, there aren't yet majorities of Americans saying they have a negative view of the movement. But the trend is certainly downward for the Tea Partiers, and with a little over seven months in office, it's been a sharp fall.
The debt ceiling fight turned out to be a damper on the American economy, and for the approval ratings of political leaders in Washington. But it's starting to consume the same political entity that decided to make raising it a major issue: the Tea Party. Last week saw the release of three separate polls that showed Americans are not just more skeptical of their movement, but growing tired of their role in the political process, which builds on previous evidence that the Tea Party is being pushed away by independent voters.
The Tea Party movement, as an idea, was originally about anger at the way things turned out after 2008. Congress had been taken over by Democrats, and President Obama came into office after a change election with high approval ratings and the political capital to make that change. Then, surprisingly, those Democrats didn't work to enact Republican policies, they proposed and passed a few of their own. This was not how government is supposed to work, according to some very conservative Americans.
So they got some signs and some bags of tea and a few video cameras followed. They protested what they called an oncoming wave of socialism perpetrated by the Democrats who controlled the legislative and executive branches of government. Then they went to some town halls and yelled about the possible reforms to the American health care system. When that passed, they started supporting candidates for Congress that not only advocated the policies they wanted but also held the same contempt for the government process that they did. Then some of those candidates won, and they had to govern.
That's really when more Americans started to have a more formed opinion on the Tea Party, and over the last few months that opinion has been turning increasingly sour.
"The Tea Party has become somewhat less popular over time, even before the current debt crisis," said Carroll Doherty, Assistant Director of the Pew Research Center for the People & the Press. Pew itself had released some data showing as much: in April of this year there had been a fifteen point jump in the negative rating of the Tea Party amongst all voters in a Pew survey, up from a similar survey in March of 2010.
The Tea Party movement actually registered some decent favorability ratings when their associated members of Congress first arrived. There was a plurality in some polls that showed support for it when they were campaigning, which could mean a number of things. First, despite the conservative positions, the Tea Party presented an opportunity for people's hope to break the traditional political orthodoxy. Partisan bickering is never popular. So when a group of people come along who don't call themselves either Democrats or Republicans, why not give them a chance, and some people clearly did.
Doherty pressed that many Americans, except those who are most engaged, still don't know what to make of the movement. "A lot of people still saying they have no opinion. Large percentages in these surveys are suggesting they don't know much about it," he said. "Because of its diffuse nature, there's no single [Tea Party] leader, and it's still not quite a familiar group to a lot of Americans."
That certainly shows up in the numbers: the New York Times and CBS News ran a similar question in April of this year and in the first week of August, asking Americans if they had a favorable or unfavorable view of the Tea Party. The amount with "no opinion" changed little, as 43% were undecided in April, then 39% in August. But the negatives in the favorable/unfavorable pairing went up significantly in the same time period: it was 26 -29 in April, then 20 - 40 in August, directly after the debt deal was announced.
But in general, those who know the Tea Party are taking a more negative view. A CNN poll in January of 2010 showed that 33% of Americans had a favorable view of the Tea Party, against 26% who held an unfavorable view, and 24% who had never heard of it. A Washington Post/Pew poll from January of this year showed a small plurality 27%, thought the Tea Party supported candidates would have a positive effect on Congress, against 18% who thought they would be negative, and 39% who thought they wouldn't make a difference.
As the Tea Party has actually effected policy (see: the debt ceiling showdown) those numbers have definitely changed. A new WaPo/Pew poll with the same question now finds that only 22% think the Tea Party is having a positive effect in Congress, and 29% think they're having a negative effect, with 25% saying neither. The latest CNN numbers have shown a near doubling of those who have an unfavorable view of the Tea Partiers: from the 26% in January 2010, the unfavorable number has climbed to 51% in a poll conducted from August 5-7. And Gallup has tracked the popularity of the Tea Party movement, showing it with the lowest level of support since they've been polling the issue.
With the large plurality in these polls still saying they have no opinion about the Tea Party, there aren't yet majorities of Americans saying they have a negative view of the movement. But the trend is certainly downward for the Tea Partiers, and with a little over seven months in office, it's been a sharp fall.
Rock me Jesus, roll me Lord...
Wash me in the blood of Rock & Roll
Wash me in the blood of Rock & Roll
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Because you started yet another thread, on yet another topic that you have started multiple threads on already.
Boring. So moving on.
But he was right. Bitter, under-educated, formerly-middle class, heterosexual, Christian white people see their place at the top of the American social heap disappearing. And they cling to their religion and guns. They see their jobs being "taken" by "illegal immigrants" even though not a single one of them has worked in a field picking tobacco or apples. They lash out at "educated" people and effect an obnoxious tone when saying words like "academia."
They use words whose definitions they don't know like "Keynesian" and "Marxist" and "socialist" and shout them out really loud.
They make asses of themselves as they scream things like "get your government hands off my medicare" or weep as they let out telling phrases like "I want my country back" when what they mean is "when I was 21, black men carried my bags off the train and now there's one in the White House."
They remember with pride when the teacher told them they could grow up to be president. But now that they see they can't... and never could... they decide to support obviously un-qualified people so long as they fit a few criteria: They have to look like someone they'd see at the Mega Mall or the PTA meeting and be no smarter than themselves.
They have to be able to be so shameless as to proudly state on TV that they have no idea what they're talking about and - just like they did when they were popular cheerleaders in high school - give a wink to the class to let them know "I'm totally faking this and I'm gettin' away with it."
They also have to come up with absurd reasons that they're "better" than someone else. 20 years ago... being white, middle class and Christian made you special. It made you lucky and the leaders of the "free" world. Now it makes you ordinary. So they enact laws to make sure their place isn't eroded any more. They do things like make laws to make sure they can tell people "how" to live. They might have to say "yes sir" to a black boss and "yes ma'am" to an Asian judge but there's no way they're going to allow the two men who live together down the street to be equal to them.
They say things like "if we let gay people marry, it will diminish the fine institution of marriage."
But we all know what it REALLY means which is "it will make me even more ordinary than I am now."
And THAT is why the tea party exists.
And frankly, I'm sick and fucking tired of them.
but it does
to whom?
haha. some of us are celebrating the light (Rick Perry) at the end of a long, dark tunnel (Obama)...
And some of us are crying in our fruit loops.
And some of us confuse "Kenyan" with "Keynesian".
It's gonna be a great day.
I knew you'd see the light....
so bright.....
so conservative....
Why is it that liberal Americans need to break down groups and always look for the conflict between them? the assumptions you make about why people are against the president show your own bias thoughts about those that disagree with you and nothing more. Opposition to this president, for the vast majority who oppose him, isn't about race. It is about policy. But it would appear, according to you, anyone who disagrees with you is a racist homophobic dope who hates all types of people different from themselves.
what does that last part about an asian judge or a black boss have to do with anything?
It is terrifying when you are too stupid to know who is dumb
- Joe Rogan
Quit making absurd generalizations about a group that you contend makes absurd generalizations. It makes you look absurd.
the out of control rhetoric is going to make someone or a group of people snap, and it is going to be a terrible tragedy.
"Well, you tell him that I don't talk to suckas."
And the winner for the most ironically self-unaware sentence of the week goes to.... :twisted:
:roll: I understand the irony, maybe I should have simply asked you why you do it... now how about an answer.
It is terrifying when you are too stupid to know who is dumb
- Joe Rogan
Everybody, i'm Awesome
the Tea Party are like the villagers storming Dr. Frankenstein's castle. Except they're holding their pitchforks upside down, and they've managed to set themselves on fire with their torches.
Wash me in the blood of Rock & Roll