New York Senator Chuck Schumer has a problem with the Tea Party. (My emphasis below.)
LAUER: And when you look at some of the things the Tea Party and others on the far right are asking for – no funding for Planned Parenthood, no funding for climate control, public broadcasting – does it seem to you, Senator, that this is less about a fiscal debate or an economic policy debate and they are making an ideological stand here?
SCHUMER: That's exactly right, Matt. You've hit the nail on the head. Even in the cuts they want to make, we can find other cuts that don't cut into the muscle. That don't prevent students who deserve to go to college from going to college. And they're saying no, not because they care about the deficit, but they have an ideology just to get rid of all government. Some government is wasteful. Some government is necessary. And the Tea Party doesn't represent all of America. In fact, their popularity is rapidly declining and that ought to be a message to Speaker Boehner.
LAUER: Well, I think the other message, though, Senator, we have to note – in a Washington Post poll recently, asked who would people blame if the government does shut down – by the way, a pox on all your houses – it goes pretty evenly 37% for the President and 37% for the Republicans. So there's a lot at risk here.
SCHUMER: Yeah, the people certainly want both sides to compromise. But I think, as they look at it, they see we are willing to, we've met them more than halfway. We're not moving the goal posts back, and I think at the end of the day they will understand that it's the Tea Party that's the problem here.
Unfortunately for Schumer, his problem with the Tea Party is bigger than he thinks.
The latest Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey finds that 48% of Likely U.S. Voters say when it comes to the major issues facing the country, their views are closer to the average Tea Party member as opposed to the average member of Congress. Just 22% say their views are closest to those of the average congressman. Even more (30%) aren’t sure. (To see survey question wording, click here.)
This shows little change from a survey in late March of last year.
Forty-nine percent (49%) of voters think the Tea Party movement is good for the country, consistent with findings since May 2010. Twenty-six percent (26%) disagree and say the grassroots, small government movement is bad for America. Sixteen percent (16%) say neither.
That there has been almost no change in voter sentiment in the past year makes for a bleak outlook for Schumer and the Democrats, but the news gets even worse as you get deeper into the Rasmussen report.
Seventy-eight percent (78%) of Republicans – and 54% of voters not affiliated with either major political party – say the movement is good for the country. A plurality (48%) of Democrats sees it as bad for the country.
Sixty-nine percent (69%) of GOP voters and 62% of unaffiliateds say their views about the major issues facing the country are closest to those of the average Tea Party member. But among voters in President Obama’s party, only 37% say their views are closest to the average member of Congress, while 47% are undecided.
Keep in mind that the percentage of people identifying themselves as Republican or Democrat favor Democrats by only 35.3% to 34.0%. This is down from a high of 41% Democrat to 33% Republican back in January of 2009. A majority of the majority of voters (meaning those who are not Democrats) are more closely aligned with the Tea Party than with Senator Chuck Schumer and his congressional colleagues.
If the Democrats are going survive in the longer term, they'll have to reconcile themselves at the very least to a pretense at respect for Tea Party goals. In the short run I expect they'll fall back on that old reliable voter fraud.
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