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July 7, 2010
Item #2: Guess What, We're the Normal Ones
Posted by Gregory of Yardale at July 7, 2010 3:11 AM
Tea Partiers are more in line with the American Mainstream than the people who bash them.
Gallup surveryed Tea Party supporters, opponents, and neutrals in order to find out what issues matter most to them. And despite the media's portrayal of Tea Party activists as bigots, it turns out that there is little difference between all three groups on the importance of addressing discrimination.
...The differences are worth noting, however. On federal debt, 61% of Tea Party supporters consider it an "extremely serious threat," as do 44% of neutrals. For both groups, however, it is the top concern. Among opponents, it ties for fifth place with terrorism. Healthcare costs come in first for opponents, with 33% of them selecting it as an "extremely serious threat" to future American wellbeing. It comes in tied for fifth with immigration among Tea Party supporters -- but more of them select it as an extremely serious threat, at 41%. Terrorism comes in at #2 for Tea Party supporters and neutrals, putting them essentially on the same page, and making a good argument that it isn't the Tea Party that's out of the mainstream, but its opponents...
Or to put it in a way even more calculated to make the Haterade-drinkers go nutzoid, Glenn Beck listeners are closer to the mainstream of American political thought than readers of Media Matters, the Huffington Post, and Think Progress.
I always thought it odd that the Tea Parties --- a movement ostensibly for fiscal responsibility and limited government --- evokes such visceral hatred in its opponents. One can only assume that the other side really, really is committed to reckless spending and massive government.
