The Tea Party is more than a year old. It began with Rick Santelli’s famous rant against the Obama administration’s housing policy on February 19, 2009. As Santelli predicted, that policy failed and the administration announced a new approach last week. It probably won’t help either. But the Tea Party endures. It gained steam with rallies on Tax Day 2009, the town hall meetings protesting Obamacare last August, and the 9/12 march on Washington. The trajectory of the Tea Party is upward; the trajectory of the Democrats, downward. And the rising Tea Party tide is lifting Republican boats. The movement is the best thing to happen to the GOP in years. It contributes enthusiasm, cash, and principle to a disillusioned and demoralized party.
Do Democrats realize what an opportunity they missed by dismissing and denigrating the Tea Party? The Winston Group poll says 40 percent of self-identified Tea Partiers are independents and Democrats. The Gallup poll says the Tea Party leans right — no surprise there — but is “generally representative of the public at large” in demographic terms. The December NBC / Journal poll said the Tea Party was more popular than both the Republicans and Democrats. A recent Rasmussen poll says the Tea Party is slightly more popular than the president.
