Birmingham, Al (WIAT) Kim Carapucci’s “Faces of the Tea Party” special report features people she encountered at Tea Party events here in Alabama. In her report we attempt to answer the question “Who is the Tea Party?” in their own words. Although that’s an effective technique, there’s not much science to it....and even less if you contrast Alabama’s Tea Party folks with similar groups across the country.

There have been, however, several national polls conducted among Tea Party participants…polls with the breadth and depth to have some methodological soundness.

Here’s what a New York Times/CBS News poll found:

The 18 percent of Americans who identify themselves as Tea Party supporters tend to be Republican, white, male, married and older than 45.
They hold more conservative views on a range of issues than Republicans generally. They tend to be wealthier and better education than the general public.

See more at  http://www.nytimes.com/2010/04/15/us/politics/15poll.html

Don’t trust the New York Times or CBS? See how they conducted their poll http://www.nytimes.com/2010/04/15/us/politics/15mbox.html?ref=politics

Do you feel more confident in a poll done for the Wall Street Journal and NBC?

According to a Wall Street Journal/NBC poll released back in December, The Tea Party Patriots conservative grassroots movement is now more popular than either major party according to a major new poll.

41 percent of likely voters sampled in that poll have a favorable opinion of the Tea Party Patriots. That compares to a 35 percent favorable rating for Democrats and 28 percent for the GOP.

The stunning conclusion: If the Tea Party Patriots were a political party – it is increasingly shifting its emphasis in a nonpartisan political direction – it would be the most popular party in America.

See more at http://firstread.msnbc.msn.com/archive/2009/12/16/2154426.aspx


Here’s the nuts and bolts of the Wall Street Journal./NBC poll.  http://online.wsj.com/public/resources/documents/wsjnbcpoll-05122010.pdf