No Tea, Thank You

It’s not a good time to be a member of that short-sighted, radical Republican contingent known as the Tea Party. From The Hill:

Support for the Tea Party has reached its lowest point ever, as a growing number of Republicans now hold a negative view of the movement, according to a Pew survey released on Wednesday.

Forty-nine percent of the public have a negative view of the Tea Party, up from 37 percent in June and nearly double from where it stood in the early days of the movement, the poll found.

Only 30 percent said they have a favorable view of the Tea Party, down from 37 percent in June.

While the Tea Party has long been viewed unfavorably by Democrats and independents, the latest Pew survey found that Republicans have turned sharply against the group. Only 27 percent of centrist and liberal Republicans view the movement favorably, a 19-point drop from 46 percent in June.

In addition, non-Tea Party Republicans are increasingly likely to say that the Tea Party is not even associated with the GOP. While 41 percent of Tea Partyers say they identify as Republicans, only 27 percent of non-Tea Party Republicans say the movement is a part of the GOP.

Meanwhile, in an interview with National Journal, Representative Charles Boustany (R-Louisiana) questioned the “institutional loyalty” of Tea Party congresspeople:

“Their allegiance is not to the members in the conference,” Boustany said. “Their allegiance is not to the leadership team and to conservative values. Their allegiance is to these outside Washington DC interest groups that raise money and go after conservative Republicans.”

There’s more about Boustany’s comments here.

READ MORE: “Two Cheers for the SWAT Team,” by Ed Kilgore (Washington Monthly); “Historian: Tea Party Rise Tied to ‘Continuing Abandonment’ of Responsibility by Media,” by Susie Madrak (Crooks & Liars).