The notion that the Tea Party movement is a vocal minority in the Republican Party may have been put to rest today. A new three-way generic ballot from Rasmussen Reports finds that a Tea Party candidate would fare better than a Republican candidate, 23% to 18%, with the Democratic candidate coming out on top at 36%. The poll also found 22% remained undecided.
There is even better news for a Tea Party candidate when it comes to independents. They chose the Tea Party candidate (33%) over both the Democratic (25%) and Republican (12%) candidates. Nearly a third of independents were undecided at 30%.
The last generic congressional ballot poll from Rasmussen Reports on December 1 found Republicans edging in front of Democrats 44% to 37%.
For now, the leaders of the Tea Party Patriots want to remain a movement, not a third party. That's what Jenny Beth Martin, a national coordinator for the Tea Party Patriots, told us last week.
2010 mid term elections could be very interesting if coalitions develop such as the independents, Tea Party, and Republicans or any two combinations of these three. It would mean the Democrats in the House could be in for a rough time. However, I don't know that independents and Republicans are as unified as the Tea Partiers over issues |