Tea Party Poll: Two Factions

[mrjarrell]

Politico took a poll recently at a TP rally in DC. The results are rather interesting. There are basically 2 factions. One which leans towards Palin and one which leans towards Ron Paul. The partiers seem to dislike both wings of the BOYN party. The split points up some core values differences in the movement and it shows in their view of what issues are most important. Some social conservative issues barely rate with the movement and the focus is primarily on taxation, out of control government and the like. Old issues are being set aside. It's an interesting picture and a sign that some things may well be changing. The old "conservatism", led by the religious right looks to be moving in a different direction, at last. The sad part, (to me) is that so many people are gravitation towards Palin and her support of the old republicrat party guard and neo-cons who have succeeded in destroying the r wing. Hopefully, this will change.

via Politico

Tea party activists are divided roughly into two camps, according to a new POLITICO/TargetPoint poll: one that’s libertarian-minded and largely indifferent to hot-button values issues and another that’s culturally conservative and equally concerned about social and fiscal issues.

The survey, an exit poll conducted Thursday by Edison Research at the massive Tax Day protest on the National Mall, found that the attendees were largely hostile to President Barack Obama and the national Democratic Party — three-quarters believe the president “is pursuing a socialist agenda.”

Yet they aren’t enamored of the Republican Party as an alternative. Overall, three out of four tea party attendees said they were “scared about the direction” of the country and “want to send a message to both political parties.”

The results, however, suggest a distinct fault line that runs through the tea party activist base, characterized by two wings led by the politicians who ranked highest when respondents were asked who “best exemplifies the goals of the tea party movement” — former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin and Rep. Ron Paul (R-Texas), a former GOP presidential candidate.

Palin, who topped the list with 15 percent, speaks for the 43 percent of those polled expressing the distinctly conservative view that government does too much, while also saying that it needs to promote traditional values.

Paul’s thinking is reflected by an almost identical 42 percent who said government does too much but should not try to promote any particular set of values — the hallmarks of libertarians. He came in second to Palin with 12 percent.

When asked to choose from a list of candidates for president in 2012, Palin and Paul also finished one-two — with Palin at 15 percent and Paul at 14 percent.

In general, those who turned out for the April 15 event tended to be less culturally conservative than national Republicans.

Read the rest at the source. It's a rather interesting look at who makes up the Tea Party.

 

[jdhaines]

I have to agree with the article...with Palin we'll end up with more of the same. People will yell and scream and when they get the power we'll have Bush part 2. While he was better than BHO he isn't what this country needed. We need to get back to smaller government that doesn't promote values...it should stay the hell out of the way of whatever values people want.

 

[jsgolfman]

Looks like you read Lew every monring like I do
Good article btw.

 

[bigg cheese]

I asked a buddy of mine and we tend to agree on one point in particular. We'd rather vote for Palin, but we believe that if Ron was elected, as much as we disagree with him, he wouldn't do anything unconstitutional, which is really what we need right now more than anything else.