Usa Thread

[kamui]

Support for Tea Party Falls in Strongholds, Polls Show

 

By KATE ZERNIKE

Support for the Tea Party — and with it, the Republican Party — has fallen sharply even in places considered Tea Party strongholds, according to an analysis of new polls.

 

In Congressional districts represented by Tea Party lawmakers, the number of people saying they disagree with the movement has risen significantly since it powered a Republican sweep in midterm elections; almost as many people disagree with it as agree with it, according to the analysis by the Pew Research Center.

 

Support for the Republican Party has fallen even further in those places than it has in the country as a whole. In the 60 districts represented in Congress by a member of the House Tea Party Caucus, Republicans are now viewed about as negatively as Democrats.

 

The analysis suggests that the Tea Party may be dragging down the Republican Party heading into a presidential election year, even as it ushered in a new Republican majority in the House of Representatives just a year ago.

 

Other polls have shown a decline in support for the Tea Party and its positions, particularly because its hard line during the debate over the debt ceiling and deficit reduction made it less an abstraction than it was a year ago. In earlier polls, most Americans did not know enough about the Tea Party to offer an opinion.

 

“We know that the image of the G.O.P. has slipped, but to see it slip so dramatically in Tea Party districts is pretty surprising,†said Andrew Kohut, president of the Pew Center. “You think of those as bedrock Republican districts. They are the base.â€

 

The number of people who disagree with the Tea Party has also risen among the general public, according to the most recent of the polls in the Pew analysis, taken this month. Among the public, 27 percent said they disagreed with the Tea Party and 20 percent said they agreed — a reversal from a year ago, when 27 percent agreed and 22 percent disagreed.

 

In Tea Party districts, 23 percent of people now disagree with the Tea Party, while 25 percent agree. A year ago, 18 percent of people in those districts disagreed with the Tea Party, and 33 percent agreed.

 

In another poll in the Pew analysis, conducted in October, 48 percent of people in Tea Party districts said they had a negative view of the Republican Party, while 41 percent said they had a favorable view. The favorable rating had dropped 14 percentage points since March.

 

That drop was steeper than it was among the general public, where the percentage of people with a favorable opinion of the Republican Party had fallen to 36 percent, from 42 percent in March.

 

Opinions about the Democratic Party have shifted less, nationally and in Tea Party districts. Among the general public, favorable ratings for the Democratic Party fell to 46 percent in October from 50 percent in August. In Tea Party districts, favorable ratings for the Democrats stayed about the same — at 39 percent in October and 37 percent in August.

 

 

 

There was even some evidence that Tea Party Republicans were viewing Democrats a little less harshly. The share of people in Tea Party districts who viewed the Democrats unfavorably had fallen to 50 percent in October, from 57 percent in August.

 

How much this affects Republican chances in the presidential contest next year, Mr. Kohut said, probably depends on which candidate wins the nomination.

 

“If the candidate is of a more conservative bent, he or she will have to deal with this complaint about the Tea Party among the general public, of being too extreme and not willing to compromise,†he said.

 

“The focus has been very much on the candidate and not on the party, but going into this election, the party has problems,†he said. “Which isn’t to say that people are wildly enthusiastic about the Democratic Party, but it hasn’t lost the kind of favor the G.O.P. has.â€

 

The analysis is based on polls conducted by the Pew Research Center from March 2010 through November.

 

NYT

 

 

[Flashermac]

The NYT is a solidly Democratic paper, which means take this with a grain of salt.

[kamui]

The NYT is a solidly Democratic paper, which means take this with a grain of salt.

 

Definitely.

 

Anyway looking from abroad this endless campaign becomes really disgusting.

There is nothing of substance happing - just posture, demagogy, falsehoods, attacks and counter attacks - while _absolutely_ nothing is being getting done.

 

Just to think, that this is just a preliminary phase of the election gives a really dark outlook for 2012.

While the major parts of the Western world are imploding the US political elite is most busy with infighting, using up most of their resources and energy.

[Flashermac]

In former years, there always seemed to be a few leading candidates going into a presidential election. Now there don't seem to be any. Even Obama was an outsider, who got the nomination by running a very positive campaign - helped by Bill Clinton's big mouth damaging Hillary's efforts. Obama is no longer positive these days, and often comes across as angry and bitter, trying to blame everyone but himself.

 

The Republicans have an assortment of minor league wannabes, none of whom are really that inspiringl. Romney thinks he is the leader, but he is not at all popular with most folks. As Steve points out, people like Ron Paul are the best of the lot ... and are being largely ignored. Even the media ignores them. WTF is going on?

[Steve]

http://news.yahoo.com/blogs/ticket/republicans-offer-100-reward-photo-sen-bob-casey-173127437.html

"I've got $100 dollars... for any person that can get us a picture here," Priebus told reporters on a conference call. Priebus said that in an effort to distance himself from the president and his low approval ratings, Casey may suddenly come down with a "24 hour flu."

 

Rob Gleason, the chairman of the Republican Party of Pennsylvania, said on the call that he would be "shocked" if Casey fails to make an appearance.

 

"That would be a slap in the face to the president," Gleason said, because it would suggest a "lack of confidence in the president's ability to get elected."

[Steve]

HAHAHAHAHA

 

http://news.yahoo.com/blogs/sideshow/former-sheriff-arrested-sent-jail-named-him-153854700.html

Arapahoe Sheriff Patrick J. Sullivan Jr. has. Sullivan, a nationally renowned law enforcement leader, was arrested on drug charges and is now being detained in the Denver area jail that bears his name.

 

Sullivan, who in 2001 was named the National Sheriff Association's "Sheriff of the Year," was arrested on suspicion of trafficking methamphetamines.

 

Local news station CBS4 began an investigation of Sullivan last month on a tip that he had agreed to meet a male informant, providing drugs in exchange for sex.

[Steve]

Sad thing is this could happen in any number of religions...and has.

 

http://news.yahoo.com/blogs/sideshow/woman-imprisoned-scientology-cruise-ship-12-years-145114448.html

Valeska Paris says she was held against her will aboard the Scientology cruise ship "Freewinds" for more than a decade. During her stay on the vessel, she alleges, she was forced into hard labor and never allowed to leave the ship without an escort.

 

In an interview with the Australian Broadcasting Corporation's (ABC News) Lateline program, Paris claims that Church of Scientology leader David Miscavige sent her to the ship when she was 18 in order to prevent her family from pulling her out of the organization.

[Bangkoktraveler]

The country seems to be in real trouble but the Republicans don't want to make any 'contributions' as they say their only goal is "to destroy Obama'.

 

Sad state of affairs.

 

As the Titanic sinks, the jackasses blame each other for the dilemina they are in.

[Flashermac]

Sad thing is this could happen in any number of religions...and has.

 

http://news.yahoo.co...-145114448.html

Valeska Paris says she was held against her will aboard the Scientology cruise ship "Freewinds" for more than a decade. During her stay on the vessel, she alleges, she was forced into hard labor and never allowed to leave the ship without an escort.

 

In an interview with the Australian Broadcasting Corporation's (ABC News) Lateline program, Paris claims that Church of Scientology leader David Miscavige sent her to the ship when she was 18 in order to prevent her family from pulling her out of the organization.

 

 

Such as? I don't recall hearing about any Baptists, Methodists, Presbyterians, Church of Christ, Episcopalians, Catholics, Orthodox, Mormons, Jews etc doing this lately. Muslims ... well, yeah. But the Scientologists have been doing this for years. Some of their members have even been convicted of murdering those who tried to leave. Scientology is a business first, religion second. What else can you say about a "church" that makes you pay to be "saved"?

 

p.s. Ron Hubbard claimed he spent years researching his "Dianetics". His then wife says he sat down and pounded it out on a typewriter right off the top of his head. Well, he was a science fiction writer.

 

My link

 

 

 

[Steve]

Ok similar and mainly mental. The fundamentalists. David Karesh types who are the fringe. These scientologist are the fringe. I would find it hard to believe the leaders knew or heard of it. They wouldn't want the press.