SHOCKING Quinnipiac Teabaggers Poll: They're 88% white, 74% Republican, 77% voted for Grampy McBush

[Amerigo Vespucci]

Quinnipiac poll on Tea Parties confirms yet again that they are arch-conservatives

http://crooksandliars.com/john-amato/quinipiac-poll-tea-parties-confirms-yet

By John Amato Saturday Mar 27, 2010 6:00am

My inbox is a full-time job all of its own, but I do get a lot of useful information passed on to me. Quinnipiac released a new poll about the Tea Party movement and the results are everything C&L has been saying about them.

Looking at voters who consider themselves part of the Tea Party movement:

* 74 percent are Republicans or independent voters leaning Republican;
* 16 percent are Democrats or independent voters leaning Democratic;
* 5 percent are solidly independent;
* 45 percent are men;
* 55 percent are women;
* 88 percent are white;
* 77 percent voted for Sen. John McCain in 2008;
* 15 percent voted for President Barack Obama.

A total of 19 percent of American voters trust government to do the right thing "almost all of the time" or "most of the time," compared to only 4 percent of Tea Party members.

While only 33 percent of all voters have a favorable opinion of Sarah Palin, 72 percent of Tea Party members have a favorable opinion of her.

The Teabaggers are essentially an extension of the conservative movement -- only, Fox News needed to tap into the body politic as far right as they could go to energize it. And in that Ailes-directed task, they were very successful. I laugh when I hear the MSM try to explain them to their audiences. They refuse to tell the truth about them in any detail or even admit the fact that they were cultivated with great care by Fox News.

And if you hear people trying to tell you that they are angry Independent voters, well, use this poll, our articles and, of course, Digby.

[dalaigh lllama]

1. That IS shocking!

They're only 88% white?

[drm604]

2. What's really shocking to me

is that 12% are non-white and 15% voted for Obama. Who are those people? :shrug:

[Amerigo Vespucci]

4. A Seinfeld Moment! "Who ARE those PEOPLE?"

And if you put in a couple of periods it becomes a Shatner moment:

"Who...ARE...those PEOPLE?"

:rofl:

:toast:

[ananda]

8. I thought Butch and Sundance said that.

LOL

[Bucky]

6. It's because they're actual people in a diverse movement, not stereotypes imagined by DUers

We got a tunnel vision problem on DU. Of course it's not as bad as the tunnel vision of the whiny adolescents of the Tea Party movement. But our opponents do not conveniently arrange themselves to suit our prejudices. Not all conservatives are white, not all minorities are liberal, and not all Obama voters are snarky, disaffected intellectuals.

[drm604]

15. Do you really believe that many people on here think

that Obama voters are snarky, disaffected intellectuals? What an odd thing to say.

[Bucky]

25. Dude, read the posts.

There's a few red-faced passionate true believers around here. But, yes, in my experience most of the posters here have a strong streak of sarcasm in them. And frankly that's not a bad thing. Which would you rather be, disaffected or affected?

[Juche]

24. They aren't 100% white but they are 88% white

That is the defense? Because they are only 88% white and only 80% republican they are a diverse movement?

The vast majority of tea baggers are white and republican, and the majority (and in some cases the vast majority) of non-whites refuse to vote GOP. Those aren't stereotypes, they are observations.

[Bucky]

26. Are you suggesting that white people can't be diverse? Is race all that matters?

Even if the movement was 100% white, that wouldn't mean it's not diverse. There are so many more factors to what makes people who they are besides race. I rarely find race to be even an interesting point of looking at people; it doesn't say anything about the choices they make with their lives. It doesn't tell you anything about who they are. It's a convenient hook for hanging sweeping generalizations on, but I think it tends to blind people to other more useful information. Sadly, introducing race into a discussion, or at least into an American discussion, is usually a quick way to (a) stopping the usefulness of the dialogue and (b) getting someone to say something remarkably stupid.

I see it as this: The Tea Partiers are just plain wrong and almost to a person dramatically misinformed about the role government plays in making our lives better and our communities functional. But beyond that, there's not much you can generalize about them. Some of them are violent, but some of them are peaceful. Some of them are racist, but I'm betting most of the ones who voted for Obama are not. Some are dumb, but many are just intellectually "compartmentalized"--that moral condition that creates seeming anomalies like great moral leaders who are serial philanderers or Republicans who want to protect the environment. There's a variety of issues that will trigger their passionate embrace of this movement. There's certainly a good number for whom there is no issue--they're just angry and scared and want to vent it all at a convenient "enemy." There's going to be different income levels, education levels, professions, geographies, lifestyles, religions, levels of anger, feelings about immigration or abortion or taxes or the Patriot Act. They'll have a diversity of family situations among them. That's what you get when you gather up any group of people.

So you may want to laugh at the notion that a group that's only 12% minority is "diverse." You are free to look at that great sea of pink and quit being curious. I prefer to understand people as people, not as de facto representative of their race. I think my way makes it easier to find convincing counterarguments, or, failing that, wedge issues, when I find myself in a conversation with people I disagree with.

After all, who ever won an argument about race? Who have you ever convinced they need to rethink their position because only 12% of the people who agree with them aren't white? Conversations flow a lot better if you don't start by telling someone they're not able to think for themselves because of their race.

[Juche]

30. Race is important because it is a proxy for exclusionary and heirarchial behavior

To me, the fact that the tea party has very few non-whites implies that there is a strong undercurrent of a group who consider themselves the 'real americans' who are superior to all 'those people'. And as a result 'those people' generally choose not to associate with that movement. I choose not to spend time with people who consider me inferior, inadequate or not as good as them. Other people are no different.

I remember reading an article about a Michael Savage rally several years ago. The demographics were the same as the tea party. Conservative whites. The only difference was the MS rally was mostly male and the tea party is more female.

Nonetheless, to me race is important because the tea party movement is based on entitlement and exclusionary aristocratic ideals. And one of those is that conservative white christians are the 'real americans' while everyone else is not. These people seem to think because of their beliefs about religion and politics and their skin color that they are entitled to be in power, entitled to be in charge and entitled to be represented as the majority. Now that they are not (a black president, a multiracial society with growing black & latino culture, a female progressive speaker, dem supermajorities) they have tons of rage they don't understand. They feel 'their country' is being taken away when what is really happening is a subgroup of Americans who feel entitled to be in control due to their appearance and religious/political have lost that control. No different than the rage the aristocrats in fragmented monarchies feel as they watch their 'entitled' power and control slip away.

So now the tea party movement has descended into conspiracy theories to explain this loss of control. The UN, The NWO, all are conspiring. It can't be because the tea party movement was never truly 'entitled' to run things. That is not in question in the mind of tea party activists. It has to be some external force taking their power away.

It is a valid issue to bring up race on this issue. There is likely some ideological diversity within the tea party movement. But the fact that it didn't start until a year ago tells you something. And the fact that the militia movement grew under Clinton, disappeared under Bush, then came back under Obama also tells you something.

Nobody is saying 100% of tea party members have to be identical. But when 70-80% fit a certain mold, you really should point out that mold so people can deal with it.

It may sound insulting, but the ideological underpinning of the KKK, Al Qaeda and the tea party movement are all similar. People who consider themselves 'the real XYZ' feel their culture and environment is being invaded and taken over by 'those people'. And they have tons of rage most people don't comprehend. After 9/11 most americans were asking 'why do they hate us so much'. People ask the same thing about the KKK, why do they hate so much. And now people are asking the same thing about the tea party movement, why do they hate so much.

They hate because they feel they are the entitled leaders and only true members of society. And they feel that phony outliers and interlopers are taking over. Al Qaeda fears western culture, the Jews and the Americans are taking over their society. The KKK (and to a lesser degree the tea party movement) feel blacks, latinos and liberals are taking over.

Right wing politics
Theocratic leanings
Rabid hatred that outsiders find confusing. They are full of hate for things outsiders consider to be minor or good.
A willingness to use violence to achieve their ends
A desire to return to the past which they believe had a sense of purity
Exclusionary social, religious and cultural beliefs
A desire to purge the outsiders from society
Irrational conspiracy theories to explain how they are being dominated and victimized


Those philosophies unify Al Qaeda with American groups like the KKK or tea party. Because the ideological underpinnings are the same.

Not all tea partiers are identical. But this is something that should be addressed.

[PerpetuallyDazed]

35. And let us not forget that a person's religion is what ties together/feeds into these traits.

I think you've listed all the classic descriptors of the authoritarian follower.

[OnionPatch]

11. Liars, maybe?

I wouldn't doubt at all that some of them would respond to a poll "Yeah, I voted for Obama....but bla bla bla" just to give their case support. As for their race, "I'm not white! My great grandmother was Phillipino!" ;)

I know quite a few Hispanic conservatives, but it's really hard to imagine a black teabagger. Still, I'm sure there are a few.

[Old and In the Way]

3. Teabaggers are Republicans?

I'm shocked.

[Joanne98]

5. We've said all along they were BUSH VOTERS!

[democracy1st]

7. K & R great post

[Vinca]

9. I'd love to know the percentage on Medicare, Medicaid or VA healthcare.

[randr]

10. All this points out is that

20-25% of them are lying.

[chill_wind]

12. And the execrable MSM "Analysts" know it, too. Every one of them, on every outlet.

eom

[tekisui]

13. In a word, they are Republicans.

[spanone]

14. 72 percent of Tea Party members have a favorable opinion of her..90% have an i.q. below 40

[MattBaggins]

16. 88% white and 12% lied

[MattBaggins]

17. Love the analysis trying to figure them out

HERE IS A CLUE DIPSHITS---> OBAMA IS BLACK; THAT IS YOUR REASON FOR THE TEA BAGGERS.

[leftygolfer]

18. don't understand how any non-white person

would be a part of that racist filth

[Enthusiast]

19. That 88% figure can't be right.

It's got to be 99% or more.

[Motown_Johnny]

21. maybe having freckles count as you being a person of color

[spoony]

23. Teabaggers still count the Irish as non-white, maybe? nt

[Bucky]

27. Sadly, people are who they are, not who you want them to be.

But please feel free to deny science when it conflicts with your personal belief system.

[ProgressOnTheMove]

20. 80 percent white I don't see much racial representation are the remainder 20 percent a blue color.....

If these stats are true it may prove their sightings of aliens true astrally.

[Pesci11]

22. 55% are women, 45% are men

That one was surprising.

[KG]

28. most disturbing.

[Bucky]

29. Think about age

Think about how vulnerable and scared someone must be before they turn to a crazy movement like the Tea Partiers. Now, correllate that with how economically vulnerable women are in this society compared to men.

I think it makes perfect sense. Rush & Beck don't get their high ratings if they only emotionally manipulate the well-to-do.

[kentuck]

31. How many voted for Dubya??

I assume it is about the same that voted for McCain? They need to do some serious introspection.

[Odin2005]

32. 55% are women? 16% are DEMS!?!

:wtf:

[Jennicut]

33. Think PUMA types.

[Jennicut]

34. dupe.