Tea Party: GOP schism festers

31 March 2011 |permalink | email article

Is the movement, obsessed with government spending cuts, becoming in some ways reminiscent of the No Nothing movement in American politics during the 1840s to 1850?

A newly release CNN poll finds the number of Americans who hold an unfavorable opinion of the Tea Party movement has risen to an all-time high – nearly as unpopular as both the Republican and Democratic parties.

The poll found that 47 percent of adult Americans viewed the Tea Party unfavorably, compared to 32 percent who said they viewed it favorably. The latest finding establishes a central point: the Tea Party continues to lose popularity as it has become better known.

Last April, 36 percent of Americans viewed the movement unfavorably, a number that rose to 37 percent in October, and 43 percent in November.

But today in the Capitol Tea partiers led by right wing fanatics like Rep. Michelle Bachmann of Minnesota and others are putting pressure on Republican lawmakers not to make deals with Democrats on major spending cuts – a sign the movement is far from extinct heading into 2012.

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