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.

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