Michelle Said:

Are these accurate polls that describe Tea Party followers? Do you have others?

We Answered:

Don't let yourself be fooled by polls that haven't been accurate ever. What tea partiers and most, not all, Republicans dislike about Obama is his skin color. Plain and simple.

As much as I'd like to think we've evolved beyond the 1960's, racism is sadly alive and well in America. The home of the free and brave. My only question is who are the free and brave?

Jane Said:

How powerful will the Tea Party turn out to be at the polls? Moderate Republicans will not tolerate people?

We Answered:

You are so far left you have no idea what "moderate Republicans" will tolerate. You don't even know how Republican women feel about abortion. Who do you think is behind the pro-life movement, anyway?

Claudia Said:

According to polls there are many Racists amongst the Tea Party and Republicans. Do they discount this?

We Answered:

First of all you have to understand that the Tea Party has been totally co-opted by the GOP. It has become a 'stealth' GOP movement. It's GW Bush's old 'base'.

It's a great irony that, though the Republican Party came into being for the single purpose of abolishing slavery, for the last century at least they have been The Party of Intolerance. They're not -all- racists, but racists are certainly welcome. And sexists, and homophobes, and intolerant fundamentalists.

Racists always protect themselves by accusing their accusers first. So Rush Limbaugh will say 'Hey, I"M not racist! Jesse Jackson is racist! Obama is racist!"

Agnes Said:

Are these polls accurate about the Tea Party ?

We Answered:

The Tea Party movement began with just followers of Ron Paul, libertarians who really didn't like either party. But after posting big losses in two consecutive elections, the Republicans saw the Tea Parties as an opportunity for a 'stealth' Republican movement. They moved in to co-opt the movement, to morph it in to a We Hate Obama movement.

The Republicans can't gather a bunch of people and tell them Bush was a great president, and that we need to elect a man who will continue all of Bush's policies and programs. Actually, that was John McCain. So they need to pretend they're non-partisan, but they foster hatred for Obama and 'liberals'. All the leaders that have moved to the front of the movement are from the GOP. All the funding has come from GOP sources. And the movement was promoted and built up by Fox News, which we all know is no more than a Republican 'house organ'.

Ironically, since the Republican Party came into existence only for the single purpose of abolishing slavery, for at least the last 120 years the GOP has been The Party of Intolerance. Traditionally they instigate, encourage and exploit every kind of intolerance. Racism, sexism, nativism and xenophobia, homophobia, even religious intolerance. Racism is no longer acceptable out in the open, so they soft-pedal it, they speak in 'code words'. The last 'safe' targets of intolerance today are Muslims and gays, so you hear Tea Partiers talk about them a lot!

The non-partisan libertarian followers of Ron Paul, though they are kooky in many ways, intolerance is not one of their principles.

Marjorie Said:

Does anyone have better polling data on Tea Party/GOP followers than these recent polls? I can't find others?

We Answered:

Let's see those who say Fox is unbiased take a year off watching it and then be polled again. As that would prove that Fox was unbiased (because the poll figures would not change) nobody could possibly refuse. It's only a program after all.
In truth the great majority of Fox worshippers just know that their 'personal' political beliefs would evaporate if they were left to their own devices.

Ida Said:

Are these accurate polls about Tea Party followers? If not, do you have more accurate info?

We Answered:

I don't know enough about the Tea Party to say.

However, the New York TImes poll that somebody cited above reported additional facts about the Tea Party types -- that they identify themselves as "very conservative" or "conservative," and that they're richer on the average than most other Americans.

The findings that you cite suggest that about half of these people are somewhat racist, and I think that's probably true.

However, I suspect that a big fraction of the TP people are greedy and/or economically insecure, regardless of how they feel about race.

They know they're doing somewhat better than their neighbors economically. They mostly feel that they're richer than their neighbors because they're smarter and harder - working (meaning they feel "entitled" to greater wealth than those rotten liberal ghetto dwellers enjoy).

And they're terrified that "Big Government" and "tax and spend liberals" are going to take their extra income away and give it to welfare chislers who don't deserve it.

The Tea Party people who've responded to my questions on YA also usually have expressed a generally Libertarian suspicion of government that I think has deep roots in American history.

When I was in elementary school in Iowa in the 1950s and my father was involved in liberal Republican politics, I thought the main theme of the American revolution was that "freedom" and especially "freedom from government" are the highest values, if not the ONLY values, that any American patriot should pursue.

That single-minded focus on "freedom" at all costs also inspired me when I turned to Libertarianism as a teenager.

I now believe that freedom is only one of several important values that the US government should be protecting, and I've come to believe that my teenaged libertarian beliefs -- on economic matters -- were mistaken.

However, I suspect that many Americans never get to the stage of questioning what they learned about the Boston Tea Party in elementary school.

I think out of loyalty to bedrock truths they learned in 5th grade, they're still obsessed with "freedom" to the exclusion of all other values - e.g. social justice, compassion towards the poor, basic fairness in the execution of the laws, environmental protection -- etc. etc.

So long as these people think of Americanism as consisting of "economic freedom," and nothing else, I think they'll be likely recruits to RW movements like the Tea Party.

Of course, in real life, any individual TP member (just like any given leftist or liberal) can have many different motives.

So I'd guess that many TP members combine a libertarian zeal for economic freedom, PLUS a self-righteous attitude toward the poor, PLUS a concern about keeping their own taxes low, PLUS a certain amount of racial anxiety.

Rodney Said:

Are these polls accurate about the Tea Party? Do you have better polls?

We Answered:

I would say they are accurate and it doesn't say much about the intellect of the average American.