Americans See Positive, Negative Effects of Tea Party Movement

PRINCETON, NJ -- Americans believe that the Tea Party movement has had both positive and negative influences on the U.S. political process. They credit the movement with getting people more involved in the political process and making the parties more responsive to the views of ordinary citizens. At the same time, a majority believe the Tea Party has created deeper political divisions in the U.S.

These results are based on the USA Today/Gallup final pre-election poll, conducted Oct. 28-31, and reflect Americans' views of the Tea Party before Tuesday's election results were known. The election saw Republicans make gains in both houses of Congress, including a gain of more than 60 seats in the House of Representatives to take partisan control of that institution.

Twenty-six percent of Americans describe themselves as supporters of the Tea Party movement, and 27% as opponents, with the remainder neutral. These percentages were quite stable throughout the election year.

Tea Party supporters and opponents have differing views of the impact of the Tea Party on American politics.

• Majorities of supporters and opponents agree that the movement caused people to get more involved in the political process, though supporters are much more likely to believe this.
• Supporters and opponents diverge on the questions of whether the movement made the parties more responsive to the people and whether it created deeper political divisions.
• Tea Party supporters are nearly unanimous in thinking the movement made the parties more responsive. Meanwhile more than 8 in 10 opponents think it made the country more divided politically, though even 44% of Tea Party supporters agree.

Because Tea Party supporters are overwhelmingly Republican and opponents Democratic, the views of Republicans and Democrats on these issues largely mirror those of movement supporters and opponents, respectively.

Bottom Line

In politics, 2010 may best be remembered for the impact of the Tea Party movement on the year's midterm elections. Tea Party-backed candidates had a significant say in determining which Republican candidates were nominated, upsetting GOP establishment candidates in many races. Some of the Tea Party-favored candidates eventually prevailed in the general election.

In its short existence, Americans acknowledge that the Tea Party movement has had a measurable impact, most notably in terms of getting people more involved in the political process. Now that the 2010 elections are over, one of the key stories in the coming political year is whether the Tea Party will gain or lose influence in American politics. This will be evident in the effectiveness in Congress of its favored candidates who won election, as well as its influence over who is nominated as the Republican presidential candidate for the 2012 election.