Tea Party Backers Wealthier and More Educated
Posted in Main Blog (All Posts) on April 15th, 2010 4:42 am by HL
Tea Party Backers Wealthier and More Educated
“Tea Party supporters are wealthier and more well-educated than the general public, and are no more or less afraid of falling into a lower socioeconomic class,” according to the latest New York Times/CBS News poll.
“The 18% of Americans who identify themselves as Tea Party supporters tend to be Republican, white, male, married and older than 45.”
Key finding: “Tea Party supporters’ fierce animosity toward Washington, and the president in particular, is rooted in deep pessimism about the direction of the country and the conviction that the policies of the Obama administration are disproportionately directed at helping the poor rather than the middle class or the rich.”
Crist Could Win as an Independent
A new Quinnipiac poll in Florida finds Marco Rubio (R) has a huge lead over Gov. Charlie Crist (R) in their primary race for U.S. Senate, 56% to 33%.
In general election match ups, Rubio leads Rep. Kendrick Meek (D), 42% to 38%, while Crist leads Meek by an even wider margin, 48% to 34%.
Interestingly, if Crist were to run as an independent in the general election, he would get 32%, followed by Rubio at 30% and Meek at 24%. Perhaps this is why some of his advisers are pushing him to drop the primary race.
Said pollster Peter Brown: “Crist appears a great deal more viable in a November three-way than he is against Rubio in a Republican primary. But having already ruled out an independent candidacy, he would have to reverse himself by the end of the month due to the filing deadline. Such a public reversal might be politically harmful to the governor, but perhaps not compared to his chances against Rubio at this point.”
Bunning Takes One More Shot at McConnell
Retiring Sen. Jim Bunning (R-KY) turned his back on political protégé Trey Grayson (R) and endorsed Rand Paul (R) in Kentucky’s GOP Senate primary, the Louisville Courier Journal reports.
“Bunning’s endorsement underscores his fractured relationship with Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY), who hasn’t officially endorsed a candidate but is believed to be behind Grayson, Kentucky’s secretary of state, in the May 18 primary.”
Said Larry Sabato: “This is less about sticking it to Trey Grayson and more about sticking it to Mitch McConnell. What Bunning is trying to ensure is that his successor will cause McConnell even more trouble than he did.”