Poll: Americans cooling to Tea Party
Americans are cooling to the Tea Party even as it appears to be dictating policy to Republicans in Congress, according to a new Associated Press/GfK Roper national opinion poll.
Just 25 percent of those surveyed consider themselves Tea Party supporters, with 28 percent approving of the right-wing movement.
Seventy percent said they are not Tea Party backers, with 46 percent voicing disapproval.
The Tea Party was viewed positively by a 33-30 percent margin in a June, 2010 AP/GfK poll.
The poll found approval for Congress at a rock-bottom level after the prolonged impasse over raising the debt ceiling. Only 12 percent of those surveyed approve of the job lawmakers are doing, down from 30 percent in May: Disapproval for Congress is at an all-time high of 87 percent.
Negative marks for Congress are nothing new. Usually, however, polls show majority disapproval for the Senate and House — but a majority of those surveyed saying they would vote to reelect their own member.
No more. The AP/GfK poll found only 38 percent saying they would vote to reelect their own member of Congress. A whopping 53 percent opted for “someone else.”
The approval rating for Democrats in Congress stands at 30 percent, for Republicans in Congress it is 24 percent.
The poll of 1,000 Americans 18 and older was taken Aug. 18-22. It has a margin of error of plus/minus 4.1 percent
http://blog.seattlepi.com/seattlepolitics/2011/08/29/poll-americans-cooling-to-tea-party/
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