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Robert D. Putnam, a professor of public policy at Harvard, and David E. Campbell, a political scientist at Notre Dame, say they have collected data indicating that the tea party is "less popular than much maligned groups like 'atheists' and 'Muslims.'"
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The professors were following up on research they conducted in 2006 and 2007 for their book "American Grace: How Religion Divides and Unites Us" and decided to add the tea party and atheists to their list of survey queries. By going back to many of the same respondents, the professors gleaned several interesting facts about the tea party.

One of their more surprising findings, Campbell concedes, (and one drawing national attention) is that the tea party drew a lower approval rating than Muslims and atheists. That put the tea party below 23 other entries--including Barack Obama, Sarah Palin, Republicans and Democrats--that the professors included on their survey of "a representative sample of 3,000 Americans."

By examining which respondents became supporters of the tea party, Campbell and Putnam's survey "casts doubt on the tea party's 'origin story,'...

Early tea partiers were described as "nonpartisan political neophytes," Campbell and Putnam write, but their findings showed that tea partiers were "highly partisan Republicans" who were more likely than others to have contacted government officials.

"They are overwhelmingly white, but even compared to other white Republicans, they had a low regard for immigrants and blacks long before Barack Obama was president, and they still do," they went on.

In addition to being socially conservative, the study found a close tie between religion and the tea party, whose supporters seek out "deeply religious" elected officials.

"This helps to explain why candidates like Michele Bachmann and Rick Perry are just as much about the public presentation of themselves as religious people as fiscal conservatives," Campbell told The Ticket. Campbell said Tuesday that he does not regard his research as politically motivated. "I don't have a particular dog in this or any other political fight," he said.

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Originally posted by Niki2:
Rap/Geezer: Yeah, you can fool some of the people most of the time, and most of the people some of the time...you know how it goes. Now that the people conned into believing they really MEANT it about jobs are seeing who they REALLY are, those ol' negative numbers is climbin', ain't they?

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Originally posted by Niki2:
The difference is, the Tea Party/Republicans this past year have made a very clear practice of DOING THINGS that have nothing to do with jobs, but are instead directed at social issues which are affecting people negatively, as well as saying things which are so over the top and indicating they'd do MORE things that will affect individuals negatively if they get the chance.

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Originally posted by Geezer:
But it is interesting how those less-popular-than-(choose your demographic) Tea Partiers were able to get enough legislators elected to derail/define(your pick) the debt ceiling and budget processes. Say what you will about their motives and goals, but they've been able to use the democratic process pretty effectively to support those motives and reach those goals.

"Keep the Shiny side up"

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Originally posted by AURaptor:

Yes. Soooo unpopular, they helped the GOP sweep into power in 2010.

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Originally posted by HKCavalier:
Aw, c'mon, my right-wing buds--no one is disputing that the TP WAS popular, only that they've quite obviously and thoroughly worn out their welcome. The right doesn't seem to be able to produce anything in the last 5 or 6 years that doesn't become an embarrassment within a few months. Doesn't seem to slow 'em down any, though.

It's not a flaw, it's a feature!

HKCavalier

Hey, hey, hey, don't be mean. We don't have to be mean, because, remember, no matter where you go, there you are.

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Originally posted by 1kiki:
There appear to be two TPs - the one founded by Ron Paul which was relatively silent on non-economic non-government issues (and which seems to not be keeping its momentum), and the OTHER one which is an amalgam of corporate greed (Koch), the religious self-righteous who are anti-anything other than x-tianity anti-choice and anti-gay, racists, birthers, anti-government Civil War holdouts (who seem to want a return of the Old South and slavery or at least a white-male-overclass), right-wing-nuts and all the usual sundry assorted critters.

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The national and various state TPers did campaign on jobs and it's why they were voted in. Which is why when they seemed to focus exclusively on everything NOT related to jobs - especially their union-busting agenda which is extremely unpopular - they lost their luster.

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Originally posted by Geezer:
But it is interesting how those less-popular-than-(choose your demographic) Tea Partiers were able to get enough legislators elected to derail/define(your pick) the debt ceiling and budget processes. Say what you will about their motives and goals, but they've been able to use the democratic process pretty effectively to support those motives and reach those goals.

"Keep the Shiny side up"

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Originally posted by Kwicko:

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Originally posted by AURaptor:

Yes. Soooo unpopular, they helped the GOP sweep into power in 2010.

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Huh. That's odd - just a couple weeks ago, you were arguing that the Tea Party was only a minority presence in the party, and that the GOP had very little power in, as you said, less than a third of the government. One house.

Do now you think the GOP "swept into power"?

Interesting analysis. Next time my home team loses two games out of three, I'll be sure and note how they "swept" the competition.

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Originally posted by Niki2:
Now it's my turn to ask "What were you watching?"

(...Then there's a lot of quotes from Democrats/liberals...)


The Tea Party and the GOP (Republicans) made "Jobs! Jobs! Jobs!" their rallying cry, and it won them the 2010 big.

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Republicans in Congress are urging two simple steps they say will help put Americans back to work: Freeze all tax rates at current levels and reduce federal spending.

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Halt Any Proposed Rule or Regulation Expected to Have an Economic Cost, Result in Job Loss, or Have a Disparate Impact on Small Businesses;

Eliminate Job Killing Federal Tax Increases;

Demonstrate a Commitment to Lowering the Deficit Now Without Raising Taxes By Freezing Domestic Discretionary Spending at Last Year’s Level;

Assist Community Banks and Small Businesses with the Downturn in the Commercial Real Estate Market.

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Originally posted by Storymark:
Those low numbers are in large part a direct result of the actions those folks took in office.

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Originally posted by Geezer:


I also can't find any indication that a Republican candidate in 2010 actually ran on or mentioned this proposal.

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Originally posted by 1kiki:
I posted a promise by Walker DIRECTLY FROM HIS CAMPAIGN to create 250,000 jobs in Wisconsin and you post back and pretend nobody ever campaigned on such a thing?

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We must restore trust in the Department of Natural Resources by requiring more transparency and accountability while ensuring decisions are based on objective science and the best interests of the taxpayers and license buyers. The DNR works for us, not the other way around. As governor, I will ensure the DNR becomes an ‘opportunity’ agency, giving job creators the opportunity to grow, sportsmen and women the opportunity to be heard and not ignored, and all Wisconsinites the opportunity to enjoy our state’s abundant natural resources.

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Originally posted by Wulfenstar:
Storymark...


Shhhh... Its ok, child....shhhh...

"Hope is a good thing, maybe the best of things, and no good thing ever dies"

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Originally posted by AURaptor:

Niki, I'll put the TEA party candidates,their poll #'s, and their view of how govt should be run up against what Obama has to offer, every day of the week.

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Originally posted by Kwicko:

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Originally posted by AURaptor:

Niki, I'll put the TEA party candidates,their poll #'s, and their view of how govt should be run up against what Obama has to offer, every day of the week.

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I'll take that bet. Can you show me one single tea party candidate who has gotten more than 69 million votes in an election?

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Originally posted by Niki2:
Well, you can deny that Republicans ran on jobs all day if you want, the fact is we heard it over and over again from them.

As to part of their platform, try this:

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Republicans will advance a multi-pronged plan to support small business and grow good-paying jobs. http://www.gop.com/2008platform/economy.htm that does is show that it's in their platform, so it doesn't prove my point, and I don't know how else I CAN prove my point, given the elections are long over with and most candidates promises would be hard to find. I may give it a try later. But it's hard to know what you consider an "acceptable" cite, given you so easily rejected all those I offered.

AHA! I found one, and it's a goodie. SURELY you'll find John Boehner's OWN WEBSITE acceptable? "...from party mantra to “the single most important question”--check out the video: http://boehner.house.gov/News/DocumentSingle.aspx?DocumentID=212154

That's as much more time and effort as I'm willing to put into this. If it's not acceptable to you, fine, so be it. The fact remains that "jobs" IS what the Republicans focused on and what got them elected, not abortion, same-sex marriage or the other bills they brought up after being elected.

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Hey Niki,
Geezer said, "No. I said it wasn't THE LEAD ISSUE in their campaigns, not AN issue. It's generally far down the list."

Arguing with this kind of statement is a waste of time. How would you ever prove that some issue is "The Lead Issue" for most/all tea partiers? He'll always be able to deflect the statement with what he just said or something like , "Well, it might have been for one particular politician, but not for the Tea Party as a whole". Unless there is some representative "Tea Party Manifesto" that all politicians claiming to be from the Tea Party sign that states, " We hearby swear to uphold the Manifesto which states that the LEAD, most important, numero uno, biggest cheese, giant cajones issue is creating jobs", you will never be able to "prove" it in his mind.

Take heart that the rest of us can see that it was a not insignificant part of their platform though...

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Originally posted by Cuda77:

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Originally posted by Kwicko:

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Originally posted by AURaptor:

Niki, I'll put the TEA party candidates,their poll #'s, and their view of how govt should be run up against what Obama has to offer, every day of the week.

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I'll take that bet. Can you show me one single tea party candidate who has gotten more than 69 million votes in an election?

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Ooh, ooh! I can answer this one and save you the trouble of badgering Rappy about it for weeks. The answer is none. Because there is no "Tea Party." They all ran as Republicans. No member of the Tea Party has ever gotten one vote in any election. And they will continue to receive no votes as long as they keep running as Republicans.

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Originally posted by Niki2:

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both built more concentration camps inside the US than Nazis built in Germany

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jeezus...

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