The “Tea Party” Is Now More Popular Than The Republican Party

Yikes! After months of supporting and pandering the ‘tea party’ activists, a new Rasmussen poll shows that a hypothetical “tea party” is actually more popular than the Republican Party in a generic Congressional ballot. From Rasmussen’s summary:

In a three-way Generic Ballot test, the latest Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey finds Democrats attracting 36% of the vote. The Tea Party candidate picks up 23%, and Republicans finish third at 18%. Another 22% are undecided.

Among voters not affiliated with either major party, the Tea Party comes out on top. Thirty-three percent (33%) prefer the Tea Party candidate, and 30% are undecided. Twenty-five percent (25%) would vote for a Democrat, and just 12% prefer the GOP.

Among Republican voters, 39% say they’d vote for the GOP candidate, but 33% favor the Tea Party option...

Republican voters are paying a lot more attention to the Tea Party movement than anyone else. Forty-three percent (43%) of GOP voters are following news about the movement Very Closely. Another 30% are following it Somewhat Closely. Just 12% of Democrats are following stories about the Tea Party movement Very Closely.

Seventy percent (70%) of Republican voters have a favorable opinion of the Tea Party movement while only seven percent (7%) offer an unfavorable view. Interestingly, 49% of Democrats have no opinion one way or the other.

I guess this means we can expect even more pandering and extremism from Republican candidates. Or maybe some accountability from primary voters for what they did when in charge in Washington.

Image credit: O_zarkman44