we the people! (well, mr & mrs geddings)

Governor Nikki Haley speaks during a meeting of the Tea Party in Columbia Thursday night at the Statehouse. A.L. Geddings and Louise Geddings of Columbia were representative of the low turnout.

The State: The Columbia Tea Party went from Donald Trump to jilted chump after the celebrity businessman canceled his appearance at Thursday’s State House rally, and state legislators approved tax breaks and spending that the group opposed.

Trump’s decision to not enter the GOP presidential race left local Tea Party leaders stewing about the way they had been treated. But about 30 people were on hand Thursday to thank Gov. Nikki Haley, lawmakers and activists for their work to require more on-the-record Legislative votes.

It was all part of a tough week for the state’s Tea Party movement.…

Columbia Tea Party chairman Allen Olson expected as many as 2,000 would have attended Thursday’s rally had Trump been there. But The Donald, a favorite of many who attended the group’s Tax Day rally with U.S. Rep. Michele Bachmann elected to not run and dropped the rally from his schedule.

“It was a kick in the gut, but it gives you a chance to regroup,” said Olson.

Full article here

Thank you Donna Dem! 😆

‘why dems keep using tea party as a weapon’

Greg Sargent (Washington Post): …. Democrats have spent an awful lot of time lately hammering John Boehner for taking his marching orders in the budget fight from the Tea Party…

This strategy is all about exploiting the division between the GOP base and independents, who are sharply at odds over whether GOP leaders should shut down the government or reach a budget compromise.

The new Pew poll (see here) adds a crucial data point in understanding this dynanmic – independents have swung sharply against the Tea Party in recent days:

“The rise in negative views of the Tea Party has occurred largely among political independents and Democrats … Today, as many independents disagree as agree with the Tea Party (27% each); the percentage disagreeing with the Tea Party has risen 13 points.”

….the problem for the GOP leadership is that the budget war is forcing them to navigate a sharp divide between the GOP base and indys. Polls show that majorities of Republicans want a shutdown rather than a compromise. By contrast; strong majorities of independents – who helped the GOP’s gains in 2010 and will be crucial to the party heading into 2012 – want a compromise.

The constant invocation of the Tea Party by Schumer and others is a shorthand effort to exacerbate this division — it’s a bid to paint the GOP as hostage to extremists with the explicit goal of wining back independents. And it’s facilitated by the fact that the more independents learn about the Tea Party, the less they like it.

Full post here

wake-up call

CNN: Nearly half of all Americans have an unfavorable view of the tea party movement, putting it in the same company as the Democratic and Republican parties, according to a new poll.

A CNN survey indicates that 32 percent of the public has a favorable view of the two year old anti-tax movement (?!?!?) …. down five points from December.

Forty-seven percent of people questioned say they have an unfavorable view of the tea party, up four points from December and an increase of 21 points from January 2010.

“This is the first time that a CNN poll has shown the tea party’s unfavorable ratings as high as those of the two major parties,” says CNN Polling Director Keating Holland. “It looks like the rise in the movement’s unfavorable rating has come mostly among people who make less than $50,000.”

The tea party movement’s unfavorable rating rose 15 points since October among lower-income Americans, compared to only five points among those making more than $50,000. ….”It’s possible the drop among lower income Americans is a reaction to the tea party’s push for large cuts in government programs that help lower-income Americans, although there are certainly other factors at work,” adds Holland.

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Looks like more and more former Tea Party-supporting lower-income Americans are finally getting it, these people are not their friends.