Tea Party support dwindles to lowest level yet


The Tea Party is learning that favor is a fickle mistress. While support for the political movement peaked at 32 percent in November 2010, when it was credited for helping Republicans pull off a 63-seat pickup in the House, a new Gallup poll Monday shows support has nearly halved since then. Only 17 percent of Americans now consider themselves supporters of the Tea Party, while a record 54 percent say they are neither supporters nor opponents.
Presidential candidates Marco Rubio and Ted Cruz can in part credit their rises to Tea Party backing, although Gallup reports Republican support of the Tea Party has plunged in the past four or five years. At one time, 63 percent of conservative Republicans supported the Tea Party; only about 42 percent still do. Meanwhile, right-leaning independents have seen the biggest drop in support for the Tea Party; 52 percent supported the movement in 2010, but only 23 percent do now. Americans who are married or over 65 have also abandoned the group in droves.
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
Jeva Lange was the executive editor at TheWeek.com. She formerly served as The Week's deputy editor and culture critic. She is also a contributor to Screen Slate, and her writing has appeared in The New York Daily News, The Awl, Vice, and Gothamist, among other publications. Jeva lives in New York City. Follow her on Twitter.
-
What is Donald Trump’s visit worth to the UK economy?
In the Spotlight Centrepiece of the president’s trip, business-wise, is a ‘technology partnership’
-
Trump’s visit: the mouse and the walrus
Britain is keen to point to its own ‘tangible results’, but the US administration has made their demands clear
-
Marie Antoinette Style at the V&A: a ‘magnificent’ exhibition
The Week Recommends The UK’s first show dedicated solely to the French queen explores the complex woman behind the ‘bling’
-
Florida erases rainbow crosswalk at Pulse nightclub
Speed Read The colorful crosswalk was outside the former LGBTQ nightclub where 49 people were killed in a 2016 shooting
-
Trump says Smithsonian too focused on slavery's ills
Speed Read The president would prefer the museum to highlight 'success,' 'brightness' and 'the future'
-
Trump to host Kennedy Honors for Kiss, Stallone
Speed Read Actor Sylvester Stallone and the glam-rock band Kiss were among those named as this year's inductees
-
White House seeks to bend Smithsonian to Trump's view
Speed Read The Smithsonian Institution's 21 museums are under review to ensure their content aligns with the president's interpretation of American history
-
Charlamagne Tha God irks Trump with Epstein talk
Speed Read The radio host said the Jeffrey Epstein scandal could help 'traditional conservatives' take back the Republican Party
-
CBS cancels Colbert's 'Late Show'
Speed Read 'The Late Show with Stephen Colbert' is ending next year
-
Shakespeare not an absent spouse, study proposes
speed read A letter fragment suggests that the Shakespeares lived together all along, says scholar Matthew Steggle
-
New Mexico to investigate death of Gene Hackman, wife
speed read The Oscar-winning actor and his wife Betsy Arakawa were found dead in their home with no signs of foul play