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More than four in five supporters of the Tea Party movement says the Republican Party represents their values at least moderately well, a new CBS News poll finds - evidence that there is less light between the movement and the party than some in the GOP have feared.

Seventy-one percent of Tea Party supporters say the Republican Party represents their values moderately well, and 11 percent say it represents their values very well. Just 17 percent say the GOP does not represent their values.

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Members of the Tea Party movement do draw distinctions with the Republican Party. Eighty-four percent say there is at least some difference between the movement and the party, while just 15 percent see little or no difference. Republicans and Americans overall are less likely to see a significant difference between party and movement.

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Nearly 70 percent of Tea Partiers - but just 37 percent of Republicans - expect the Tea Party to be a long-term political movement. About half of Republicans (and one in four Tea Partiers) expect the movement to become less influential in the long run. Fifty-seven percent of Americans overall agree.

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Americans overall are more likely to say the U.S. economy would not be better off without the bank and auto bailouts. Tea Party supporters disagree. Sixty-three percent say the U.S. economy would be better off had the big banks been allowed to fail, and 64 percent say the economy would have been better off had the automakers been allowed to fail.



Americans are split overall when it comes to whether tax cuts or deficit reduction should be the nation's priority. Not Tea Partiers: Fifty-six percent favor tax cuts, while 36 percent support deficit reduction.

Seventy-one percent of Tea Partiers say Medicare and Social Security are worthwhile programs, a view shared by Americans overall.

How America Sees the Tea Party

Thirty percent of Americans say the Tea Party reflects the views of most Americans, while 41 percent say it does not. Eighty-two percent of Tea Partiers believe their views reflect the beliefs of most Americans.

Nearly half of voters say a candidate's Tea Party affiliation would not have an impact on how they vote. But such an affiliation appears to be a net negative: While 16 percent says it would make them more likely to vote for a candidate, 29 percent says it makes them less likely.

Three in four Tea Partiers say media coverage of their movement is too harsh, and only 19 percent say it is fair. Overall, however, 43 percent of Americans say the coverage is fair.

Eighteen percent of Americans - including 35 percent of Republicans and 19 percent of independents - call themselves Tea Party supporters. Sixty-three percent say they are not.

Asked what the movement's goal should be, 18 percent said change the direction of the country/take the country back; 17 percent said reduce the size of government/reduce government control; and nine percent said promoting American or traditional values.

Asked whether Republicans running for office are motivated by solving the country's problems or by obtaining political power, both Tea Partiers are Republicans are roughly evenly split. Among Americans overall, only one in four say GOP candidates want to solve the country's problems. Sixty-six percent say they are primarily interested in obtaining power.

Six in ten Tea Partiers are men, and nine in ten are white. Most make between $30,000 and $100,000 per year, identify as Protestant and conservative, and have at least some college education. They are spread around the country, though are most likely to be found in the South. Almost half are between the ages of 45 and 64.

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Asked what the movement's goal should be, 18 percent said change the direction of the country/take the country back; 17 percent said reduce the size of government/reduce government control; and nine percent said promoting American or traditional values.

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