Respect Rising For Tea Party
The Tea Party movement, which is still dismissed by skeptics as an undisciplined collection of passionate but exotic conservatives, garners plenty of respect from political operatives in both parties according to the latest results of the National Journal Political Insiders Poll. Asked what impact the Tea Party movement will have on GOP prospects in the midterm elections, GOP Insiders, not surprisingly, were pretty bullish. Of the 95 GOP Insiders who responded to the poll this week, 45% said the movement would help a lot and 41% said it would help a little.
Typical of the GOP sentiment was this statement: "Yes, they've nominated some wacky candidates. But their intensity will help Republicans across the board, wacky and non-wacky alike." Said another GOP Insider, "Motivated voters are better than depressed voters. We can worry about re-electing this [freshman Senate] class in six years."
At the same time, 16% of the 93 Democratic Insiders responding said that the Tea Party movement would help GOP prospects in the fall a lot, and another 31% said it would help a little. Combined, that's 47% of the Democratic Insiders who say the Tea Party is going to be a net plus for the GOP which seems more generous than what one might have expected a year ago or even 6 months ago.
Of course, the movement still has plenty Democrats who believe the Tea Party comes with too much baggage. One Democratic Insider observed, "The tea party is currently a distraction to any Republican message. If the fringe elements are in the news the Republicans won't be able to take full advantage of their opportunity this year." Another Democratic Insider simply said, "Thank God for Nevada's Tea Party" which helped the controversial conservative Sharron Angle (R) win the GOP nomination to take on embattled Democratic Sen. Maj. Leader Harry Reid.
For additional results and all the comments for this week's poll, click here.