Tea Party Supporters: Who They Are and What They Believe

CBS News Poll analysis by the CBS News Polling Unit: Sarah Dutton, Jennifer De Pinto, Fred Backus and Anthony Salvanto.

AP

They're white. They're older. And they're angry.

CBS News and the New York Times surveyed 1,580 adults, including 881 self-identified Tea Party supporters, to get a snapshot of the Tea Party movement. There is a lot of information to unpack; let's begin with the demographics.

Eighteen percent of Americans identify as Tea Party supporters. The vast majority of them -- 89 percent -- are white. Just one percent is black.

They tend to skew older: Three in four are 45 years old or older, including 29 percent who are 65 plus. They are also more likely to be men (59 percent) than women (41 percent).

More than one in three (36 percent) hails from the South, far more than any other region. Twenty-five percent come from the West, 22 percent from the Midwest, and 18 percent from the northeast.

CBS

They are better educated than most Americans: 37 percent are college graduates, compared to 25 percent of Americans overall. They also have a higher-than-average household income, with 56 percent making more than $50,000 per year.

More than half (54 percent) identify as Republicans, and another 41 percent say they are independents. Just five percent call themselves Democrats, compared to 31 percent of adults nationwide.

Nearly three in four describe themselves as conservative, and 39 percent call themselves very conservative. Sixty percent say they always or usually vote Republican. Forty percent say the United States needs a third party, while 52 percent say it does not.

They are more likely than American adults overall to attend religious services weekly (38 percent do so) and to call themselves evangelical (39 percent). Sixty-one percent are Protestant, and another 22 percent are Catholic.

More than half -- 58 percent -- keep a gun in the household.

More than three in four Tea Party supporters (78 percent) have never attended a rally or donated to a group; most have also not visited a Tea Party Web site.

For the purposes of the poll, those who have attended a rally or donated to a group have been deemed Tea Party "activists." Four percent of Americans fall into this category.

Tea Party activists tend to be even angrier, more pessimistic about the country and more negative about President Obama than other Americans who identify as part of the Tea Party movement. For a breakdown of the beliefs of these activists, click here.

What They Believe

AP

Fifty-three percent of Tea Party supporters describe themselves as "angry" about the way things are going in Washington, compared to 19 percent of Americans overall who say they are angry.

Asked what they are most angry about, the top four answers among Tea Party supporters who identify as angry were the health care reform bill (16 percent), the government not representing the people (14 percent), government spending (11 percent) and unemployment and the economy (8 percent).

More than nine in ten (92 percent) say America is on the wrong track, while just six percent say the country is headed in the right direction. Fifty-nine percent of Americans overall say the country is on the wrong track.

Eighty-eight percent disapprove of President Obama's performance on the job, compared to 40 percent of Americans overall. While half of Americans approve of Mr. Obama's job performance, just seven percent of Tea Party supporters say he is doing a good job.

Asked to volunteer what they don't like about Mr. Obama, the top answer, offered by 19 percent of Tea Party supporters, was that they just don't like him. Eleven percent said he is turning the country more toward socialism, ten percent cited his health care reform efforts, and nine percent said he is dishonest.

Seventy-seven percent describe Mr. Obama as "very liberal," compared to 31 percent of Americans overall. Fifty-six percent say the president's policies favor the poor, compared to 27 percent of Americans overall.

Sixty-four percent believe that the president has increased taxes for most Americans, despite the fact that the vast majority of Americans got a tax cut under the Obama administration. Thirty-four percent of the general public says the president has raised taxes on most Americans.

While most Americans (58 percent) say the president understands their needs and problems, just 24 percent of Tea Party supporters agree. Just one in five say the president shares the values of most Americans.

Only one percent of Tea Party supporters approve of the job Congress is doing, compared to 17 percent of Americans overall.

Twenty-four percent of Tea Party supporters say it is sometimes justified to take violent action against the government. That compares to 16 percent of Americans overall who say violence against the government is sometimes justified.

CBS

Sixty-three percent say they get the majority of their political and current events news on television from the Fox News Channel, compared to 23 percent of Americans overall. Forty-seven percent say television is their main source of Tea Party information, the top source; another 24 percent say they get Tea Party information from the internet.

Nearly half say the main goal of the movement is to reduce the role of the federal government, far outdistancing any other consideration. Just seven percent say the goal of the movement is to elect Tea Party candidates.

An overwhelming majority of Tea Party supporters, 84 percent, say the views of the Tea Party movement reflect the views of most Americans. But Americans overall disagree: Just 25 percent say the Tea Party movement reflects their beliefs, while 36 percent say it does not.

Socialism, The Birther Movement, and Tea Party Leaders

Ninety-two percent of Tea Party supporters believe President Obama's policies are moving the country toward socialism. Fifty-two percent of Americans overall share that belief.

Asked what socialism means, roughly half of Tea Party supporters volunteered government ownership or control, far more than any other answer. Eleven percent cited taking away rights or limiting freedom, and eight percent said it means the redistribution of wealth.

Thirty percent of Tea Party supporters believe Mr. Obama was born in another country, despite ample evidence to the contrary. Another 29 percent say they don't know. Twenty percent of Americans overall, one in five, believe the president was not born in the United States. (More on this part of the poll here.)

Tea Party supporters were asked in the poll what they thought of a few notable figures. The most popular was Sarah Palin, who is viewed favorably by 66 percent of people in the movement. Only 40 percent, however, believe she would be an effective president, a smaller percentage than Republicans overall.

Fifty-nine percent of Tea Party supporters have a favorable impression of Glenn Beck. Nearly as many, 57 percent, have a favorable impression of former President George W. Bush, despite his role in raising the deficit and overseeing TARP bailout of the financial sector.

Just 35 percent view John McCain favorably, and 28 percent view Ron Paul favorably. (More on this part of the poll here.)

CBS

Tea Party Supporters on the Issues

Tea Party supporters are more concerned with economic than social issues. Seventy-eight percent say economic issues are a bigger concern, while 14 percent point to social issues.

They are more likely than Republicans and Americans overall to see illegal immigration as a serious problem (82 percent), doubt the impact of global warming (66 percent) and call the bank bailout unnecessary (74 percent).

Watch CBS News Videos Online

Fifty-three percent say the Roe v. Wade decision was a bad thing (compared to 34 percent of Americans overall), 40 percent oppose same-sex marriage and civil unions (compared to 30 percent overall) and 30 percent want gun control laws eased (compared to 16 percent overall).

(At left, watch CBS News correspondent Dean Reynolds' report on the tea party and the poll.)

Ninety-three percent describe the economy as at least somewhat bad, and 42 percent say it is getting worse. Fifty-eight percent believe America's best years are behind us when it comes to good jobs, compared to 45 percent of Americans overall.

Just ten percent say the stimulus package had a positive effect on the economy (compared to 32 percent of Americans overall), while 36 percent say it actually made things worse. More than half say it had no impact.

Eighty-nine percent say the president has expanded the role of government too much. More than three in four say lowering the federal government is more important than government spending to create jobs.

And while the vast majority opposes the health care reform bill, 62 percent say programs like Social Security and Medicare are worth the costs to taxpayers. (The figure is even higher among Americans overall, at 76 percent.)

Views on Race

Tea Party supporters are less likely than Americans overall to believe whites have more opportunities to get ahead than blacks.

Just 16 percent of Tea Party supporters say whites have more opportunities to get ahead, compared to 31 percent of all Americans. Seventy-three percent say both have equal opportunity, compared to 60 percent of Americans overall.

Fifty-two percent believe too much has been made of the problems facing black people. Far fewer Americans overall -- 28 percent -- believe as much. Among non-Tea Party whites, the percentage who say too much attention has been paid to the problems of black people is 23 percent.

A majority of Tea Party suppers believe the Obama administration treats both blacks and whites the same way. But one in four believe the administration favors blacks over whites, an opinion shared by just 11 percent of Americans overall and seven percent of non-Tea Party whites.

More on the Poll:

Most Tea Partiers Believe Too Much Made of Problems Facing Blacks
Tea Partiers View Palin, Beck and Bush Favorably
Tea Party Activists Small but Passionate Group
"Birther" Myth Persists Among Tea Partiers, All Americans
Most Tea Party Supporters Say Their Taxes Are Fair
Bob Schieffer: Tea Partiers Not Just "A Bunch of Yahoos"
CBS Evening News: Tea Party Steeped in Fury

Read the Complete Poll on Who They Are (PDF)
Read the Complete Poll on What They Believe (PDF)

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This poll was conducted among a random sample of 1,580 adults nationwide, interviewed by telephone April 5-12, 2010. Phone numbers were dialed from RDD samples of both standard land-lines and cell phones. The error due to sampling for results based on the entire sample could be plus or minus three percentage points. The error for subgroups is higher.

An oversample of people who describe themselves as supporters of the Tea Party movement were interviewed, for a total of 881 interviews. The results were then weighted in proportion to the adult population. The margin of error for the sample of Tea Party supporters is three points. This poll release conforms to the Standards of Disclosure of the National Council on Public Polls.

[tryfreedomUS]

The fact is that this Tea Party movement is a movement of the people, by the people and for the people. As much as the media want to claim otherwise or pretend that this is a few billionaires, the Tea Party is a grassroots conservative movement, one that has rocked the country and will continue to do so. Unlike the 1994 Republican Revolution where the elites controlled everything, this November, DC will see a groundswell shift in power and opinion.

Whether you're a Tea Partyer or not, you have to see what is coming and what the impact will be.

See the full analysis here: http://www.tryfreedom.us/2012/06/14/will-the-real-revolution-please-stand-up-the-1994-republican-revolution-vs-the-tea-party/

[lsrubey09]

WHY I STOPPED WATCHING CBS NEWS. If we DON'T have a TEA PARTY now our kids will be beholden to a debit that our generation couldn't pay. Our Founders are rolling in their grave to the tune of LET THE TEA PARTY BE HEARD (none of them was for public debt not paid for in the generation that made it and none were for a federal being the end all but hoped local governments would be with the federal stepping in ONLY when absolutely needed). We may be reported as extreme or harsh but we have a great understanding of where we are in this country and how far away we are from the REPUBLIC that our Founders created. I DO NOT WANT TO LEAVE MY CHILDREN WITH AN OUT OF CONTROL FEDERAL SPENDING GOVERNMENT! Our CONSTITUTION was the greatest document written in modern history LEARN IT KNOW IT AND KNOW WHY IT WAS WRITTEN THE WAY IT WAS. Then your statements become what they are a non issue. OUR GOVERNMENT IS FOR THE PEOPLE AND BY THE PEOPLE. not for the government and for re-election.

[john_s_fl]

By out of control debt you mean the trillions the Bush administration kept out of the debt in the form of unfunded mandates and costs of wars in Iraq and Afganistan? Or do you mean the hundreds of billions in tax cuts that went to line the pockets of his constituents? Our Founders are rolling in their graves because the 1773 "tea party" fought imperial oppression and "The Tea Party" is a front for corpratist polluters and reactionary social policy. "The Tea Party" was manufactured by the rich, of the rich and for the rich. They have showed us what they have in store for us:
real "death panels" in Arizona refusing transplants for the poor, voter suppression, an economy dismanteled by the largest concentration of wealth in our lifetimes, and laws that show more concern about what people do privately than about jobs. Appearently you want to leave your children with a poisened environment, menial jobs, and no education or health care. Our Founders gave us a "Democratic Republic". The Tea Party is doing its best to omit "Democratic" from that for the sake of their billionaire masters. Why don't you goose-step back under the rock you crawled out from under?

[TerranRich]

Yet another person who thinks they know exactly what the founding fathers wanted. Read http://timpj5.wordpress.com/2008/07/08/our-founding-father%E2%80%99s-view-of-government/, then read comment #6, which holds the true nature of our founding father's views on the role of federal government. We are not that out of line, in terms of taxes and laws, with what was originally envisioned and intended.

[skypilot5973]

What a bad study. The figures given at the beginning are of race, hinting that because only "1% are black" therefore the Tea Party must be a racist movement. But hold on here: he writes at the top of the story that "eighteen percent are white" but if you look at the pie chart following, he claims 89% are white, so he contradicts himself. Further, if it's true that only eighteen percent are white, well, that's a minority, what are the other eighty-two percent?

[TerranRich]

Do you not know how to read? "Eighteen percent of Americans identify as Tea Party supporters. The vast majority of them -- 89 percent -- are white. Just one percent is black." Where did the author say that 18% are white?

[Lanikai50]

This lovely chick is an angry white rich folk. Funny!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F5SQkSFp7GQ&feature=mfu_in_order&list=UL

[majordundee]

Who is stealing my nation from me ? IS it the same type of People who moved in to where I lived and destroyed my valley's ecology ? The big bird, a ringed neck pheasant, was part of this land and it had been there before my family had moved to that valley and had been there when the original people of this Land , American Indians, had lived and hunted /fished these grounds long ago . I never imagined it could just simply one day disappear but the big bird did. Now that I think of it the American Indians as well likely didnt see the new white settlers being the reason they also one day would no longer be part of this Land but that as well did happen. In the case of the bird, it was arrival of many city people moving out to the country that destroyed the ability of the Pheasant to survive whole and healthy from one year to the next. I didnt know how the bird lived in my region but I knew it was able to survive the hunts of the fox and the very rare Lynx wildcat. There were always numbers of pheasants seen or heard every spring and into summer.
It was a new kind of predator and it was clear to see the animal was not use to the areas but wasnt shy or too fearful of People...It was the simple average domestic housecat. Before long the more city people that came also brought their pets and it was the cat that destroyed the pheasants. It didnt take long for entire nesting populations of the birds to die as they sat on eggs on the ground in tall weeds. The wildlife of north america was not use to the housecat and had little defense to it.. We listened for them sometimes to hear if they flew from field to field making the usual awk awk call... we never heard it again...Why am I telling you this story ? Well for one reason it is a true story. There was a reason for what happened to northern Md. No one knew it would happen til it was too late. New people living in the country had come from cities and towns far from here with their pets and those animals had destroyed the natural wildlife in the area. Sadly most of the city people moving up there never knew of the pheasants and didnt mind letting their cats run free.They never even saw the birds since they rapidly began to disappear. They had been the major cause of a destruction to nature and most of them never even knew it. But I knew it.
And I never forgot the Lesson it taught me about Life and about People. It taught me that in Life nothing is a sure thing no matter what you see right in front of you it doesnt mean it will be there tomorrow. About People it taught me that people can be very selfish or that just by being unaware of what is going on around them some People can do great harm to my Land , to my State, even to my Nation . That is what I learned as I saw the sad look on my Father's face as he explained it was the housecats running around, even multiplying in the wild that was leading to the end to some of the nature we knew and loved .Sometimes it is the silence of what is gone or missing that can haunt a man as much as the monster or evil that is standing right in front of you. You just never imagine any thing that could be Big Enough or omnipresent enough to take away the world we all have grown up in . But it is happening. I and others have seen it with our own eyes...The increasing numbers of
"strangers" in my state who do not even speak English. In some areas of towns they have grown in large numbers and there is no attempt by Immigration Law officers or Maryland Police officials to stop this madness... ( I have heard the illegals are encouraged to get voting cards and to vote democrat in elections. But this is illegal...)

But did it guarantee the recent Maryland elections victories for the Democrat Party ? One has to wonder at such issues and what the ideas represent. For one thing, illegal voting would mean the democrats are illegally running the state of Maryland right now. It is not the type of issue a freedom loving true patriotic American can stomach for long. Illegal foreigners helping stupid democrats win elections they cannot win fairly...my my . It can make a man have a stroke thinking on it too long.

I intend to try to stop the threats of such disasters occurring to my own Nation, where the next threat that may grow in the near future being my own national identity as a white man being taken away from me by reverse racial discrimination from the democrat Liberals.. I am a man who is a conservative about politics and devoted to the history of the USA, I have studied its wars and I have read books of the intellectuals. I will not allow the mocking scorn of Liberals and pseudo-intellectuals tell me the USA and its past is no longer important. I wont allow someone to tell me the USA is "over",I wont let go of my memories of the Time I grew up in or my own past. I wont disappear from my Land without a fight.
(Read the entire story at NEWSVINE writer : DERRUFO)
or google the name DERR UFO

[americafirst99999]

I am a Tea Party member and I am astonished by the utter disregard for the truth about this movement. Probably the biggest misconception is that we do not care for the poor and needy of this great country. One of the foremost concerns isestablishing that pro-domestic employment is an absolute neccesity. Where have all the manufacturing jobs gone? When did we as a country start focusing only on intellectual ideas and stop making things that help everyone? The government needs to focus on adjusting our level of regulation so as to promote a more business friendly environment.Government also needs to re-do the tax code that has grown and grown to the point that companies such as GE are able to find loophole after loophole.Simplify it and make it as loophole free as possible. This would benefit all Americans and make sure that companies are paying their fair share.
It has also been mentioned that Tea Partiers want a big and active military.This could not be farther from the truth. The military has been growing at an astonishing rate and is now rivaling WW2 levels. Why do we have 60,000 troops in Afganastan when Al-Quida and the Taliban are in Pakistan? Why do we have 60,000 troops in Germany 25 years after the end of the Cold War? We are spending billions of dollars on areas that are not immenent threats to our country. Stop wasting money Neoconservatives.

[skypilot5973]

They created a negative environment for manufacturing in the 1980s when they brought in free trade with Canada and Mexico. Now all the manufacturing is done in the Third World countries like India, China and Pakistan, where they can get cheaper labour. I completely agree with you about how the government misuses and abuses the military.

[TerranRich]

You, my friend, are one of the first Tea Party members that has actually made some sense with their arguments. It's always the loudest, crudest members of your party that get the most attention, so rational, clear-thinking individuals such as yourself are often left out in the cold. Fair share? Agreed. Less military spending and occupation? Hell yes. Anti-neoconservative? You need to make the REAL opinion be heard, instead of all these racist signs we keep seeing at rallies, misunderstanding of what socialism really is (and, no, Obama is not a socialist), etc. The squeaky wheel gets the grease, and all that.

[SimpleC]

Excellent article. Thank you for a new favorite bookmark. I can't tell you all how extremely pleased I am to see these numbers. Not only do they PROVE that these ignorant people are in fact ignorant. Which I have been saying since I first heard about them. But there also fox new lovers and think Glen Beck is a f*in messiah or something. I say this to all the tea party people, GET YOUR NEWS FROM ANOTHER SOURCE. Unfortunately all the good news comes from the internet and for that you need to know how to turn a computer on. Too bad they don't know where the power switch is!

[ike_v_bethany]

Here is a little political fact. There are so few white terrorists because that is how the media defines them.
Angry non white/especially a Muslim = terrorist
Angry white man = patriot
That way the Tea Partiers can call themselves patriots and hide their terrorism behind conveniently created euphemisms.

[dalehendon]

Noloyalist the only thing crazy here is your crazy question and your insult and you obvious bias and ignorance; which needlessly is self-proclaimed.

[dalehendon]

dboy. Your writing "style" and the content and context of what you attempt to convey is really "ghetto". Your ignorance and grammatical expression impeach your ideas. I suggest you go back to school and learn how to write, read, comprehend and then come back and see if you can join in a constructive conversation.