Many tea partiers also identified themselves as Republicans. Poll: Tea partiers like GOP

While tea party activists have described themselves as political free agents disgusted with both parties, a new poll by Quinnipiac University shows that a majority have a close connection to the GOP.

Almost three quarters of those who identified themselves as part of the tea party movement – 74 percent – also identified themselves as Republicans or independents who lean Republican, according to the poll. Only 16 percent of tea partiers said they are Democrats or Democratic-leaning independents.


And 60 percent of voters who identify themselves as members of the tea party movement have a favorable impression of the Republican Party, compared to only 20 percent who view the GOP unfavorably.

Put another way, more than one fifth – 21 percent - of those who described themselves as Republicans said they also considered themselves part of the tea party movement, compared to 15 percent of independents and 5 percent of Democrats.

The poll was based on interviews with 1,900 voters. Thirteen percent responded yes to the question: “Do you consider yourself part of the tea party movement?” – a percentage roughly equal to the size of the African-American electorate.

Those who described themselves as tea party activists are nearly twice as likely to regard the GOP favorably as are voters as a whole, according to the poll. Among all voters surveyed, the poll found that the Republican and Democratic parties had identically dismal 33 percent favorability ratings, with 48 percent harboring unfavorable views of the Democratic Party and 42 regarding the GOP unfavorably.

According to the poll, 82 percent of tea partiers have an unfavorable opinion of the Democratic Party.

That number, combined with tea partiers’ identification as Republican and their highly favorable view of the GOP, might allay somewhat the concerns of among Republican leaders that their prospects for significant gains in the 2010 congressional midterm could be jeopardized by tea party activists who have mobilized in opposition to what they see as runaway spending by President Obama and congressional Democrats.

Republicans have worked to woo the activists, many of whom are new to politics, even as tea party organizers insist that the movement has no allegiance to either party.

In addition to being largely Republican, the poll found tea partiers are mainly white (88 percent), voted for 2008 GOP presidential candidate John McCain (77 percent) and adore his running mate, former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin, who is eying a run for the 2012 GOP nomination and has made a concerted play for tea party affection.

While only about a third of all respondents had a favorable opinion of Palin, three quarters of tea partiers viewed her favorably.

Tea partiers “are not in a traditional sense swing voters,” said Peter A. Brown, assistant director of the Quinnipiac poll. They “could be a boon to the GOP if they are energized to support Republican candidates.” But he added, “if the tea party were to run its own candidates for office, any votes its candidate received would to a very great extent be coming from the GOP column.”

When asked if they were faced with a general election ballot that included a tea party congressional candidate, 40 percent of self-identified tea partiers said they’d choose that candidate, while 31 percent said they’d vote for the Republican and 9 percent indicated they’d cast their ballot for the Democrat.

That’s mostly a moot concern headed into the 2010 midterm elections, since tea parties have only qualified for the ballot in two states – Nevada and Florida – and in both cases, they’ve faced backlash from tea party activists.

Brown said the poll also found that tea partiers are less educated, but more interested in politics.

And though 70 percent of all respondents indicated they were “somewhat dissatisfied” or “very dissatisfied” with the way things are going in America today, a whopping 92 percent of tea partiers said they’re dissatisfied.

Josh Kraushaar contributed to this report.

Editor’s note: Due to an internal production mistake, this story was published prior to the poll’s embargo time. POLITICO regrets the error.