Posted on 10/24/2014 1:39:17 PM PDT by 2ndDivisionVet
They’re baaaa-aaack, as Carol Anne said in Poltergeist II. No, not the cheesy ghosts from the cemetery under their house, but the ghosts of the previous midterm election, and they’re about to haunt Democrats. Gallup’s survey from the end of last month shows that the most enthusiastic voters in this cycle are Tea Party supporters — and it’s not even close:
Although the Tea Party has not been as visible in this year’s midterm elections as it was in 2010, Tea Party Republicans have given more thought to this year’s elections and are much more motivated to vote than are non-Tea Party Republicans or other Americans. About one in four Americans continue to say they support the Tea Party.
These results, from a Sept. 25-30 Gallup poll, demonstrate that despite what appears to be a lower profile this year, the Tea Party wing of the Republican Party — about 18% of all national adults — remains a powerful force, given their higher interest in the election and higher motivation to vote. This is not a new phenomenon; Republican Tea Party supporters gave the 2010 midterm elections more thought and were more motivated to vote than other Republicans, although all voters in general were paying more attention that year.
Lower profile, indeed. The results of the primary elections had been seen as a rebuke to Tea Party activists, as challengers to Republican Senate incumbents failed to net a single win. Only David Perdue’s defeat of Jack Kingston for the US Senate nomination appeared to fit the profile of a Tea Party victory, but Kingston was well regarded by conservative activists as a member of the House. That outcome looked more like populist rejection of a Washington figure, and at any rate Perdue performed relatively the same against Michelle Nunn in pre-runoff polling. The only real surprise of this cycle was Eric Cantor’s loss to a neophyte in the Virginia-07 primary, but Tea Party organizations didn’t get involved in that race until after the primary.
Just how big of a difference is there? Among self-identifying Tea Party supporters, 73% are very or extremely motivated to vote in the midterms. A smaller majority of Republicans who do not identify with the Tea Party (57%) say the same. Among non-Republicans, enthusiasm drops to 42%, a little more than half that of Tea Party supporters. That’s a wide gap, and a very large sign that the primary season did not discourage Tea Party supporters as presumed. Instead, it appears more that these voters became circumspect about primary choices and are ready to come out strong regardless of whether their preferred candidate prevailed over the summer.
On issues they see as “extremely important” in the midterms, a majority of Tea Party supporters choose ISIS (57%) and the federal budget deficit (55%), while the operation of the federal government (48%) and the economy (47%) get near-majorities. For other Republicans, ISIS gets a majority (51%), but only 34% of non-Republicans consider it “extremely important” for the elections.
Among non-Republicans, the top two issues ate the availability of good jobs (47%) and a tie between the economy and equal pay for women at 43%, with government operation narrowly trailing at 42%. Needless to say, three of those four topics are not exactly good news for Democrats. The equal-pay issue only gets 15% among Tea Party supporters and 22% among other Republicans, so it’s not going to have wide traction — while economic and competence problems will dog Democrats in every race. The lowest-ranked issue on the list is climate change, which only resonates with 26% of non-Republicans in 2014.
Gallup concludes that this will impact the GOTV situation and the model for likely voting in the midterms:
Still, although the Tea Party has been less visible in the election campaigning that has taken place this year in both the primaries and the lead-up to the general election, Tea Party supporters’ stronger motivation to vote underscores the group’s importance to the election outcome. Because most Tea Party supporters are Republicans or Republican leaners, and because it is unlikely that they will be voting for anyone other than a Republican candidate, the main effect of Tea Party supporters in the general election will be to provide a motivated base for the GOP to build on as it focuses on getting out the vote.
It also demonstrates how the Democrats’ “war on women” demagoguery and the emphasis on climate change by Democratic megadonor Tom Steyer is likely to backfire in a big way on November 4th. Those choices may haunt Democrats for a lot longer than a fortnight.
So all is forgiven, huh?
After being cr@pped on by the GOP-e during the primaries, TEA Partiers will be turning out in droves to support RINOs?
Ready to vote....for all the good it does. :(
Broken glass, baby. I’m gonna have to be careful not to stick the pencil through the card. BTT
Mailed my ballot yesterday,voted for the Tea Party guy,not the rino.
Maybe they realize that voting for communists, er, Democrats never works? Do you think I really want to vote for John Cornyn?
No, all is not forgiven. Remember Mississippi.
But not voting, voting for third party losers or worse, voting for a Dem is foolhardy.
So I'm not surprised at all by this poll. Tea Party folks, and I count myself in that group, want to win the Senate even if it isn't made up of 54 Ted Cruz clones. Control is important. They know that and they are motivated to make it happen. And so am I.
Yep, broken glass baby!
It would be a lot better if Rove and Co had not used us as his personal outhouse
I’m not thrilled to cast a vote for Charlie Baker, but the alternative is having the Witch of Fells Acres as governor of my state. There are some other races and ballot questions that are definitely worth an enthusiastic vote, though. I will do my part knowing that any victory will be short as the next battle - getting a RINO congress to do conservative things - begins in January.
I won’t be thrilled to see a gloating turtle strut around during the first week of November, but will take some solace in the gnashing of teeth and bitter tears of liberals if there is a wave that washes many of their fellow travelers out to sea.
I could only justify voting for a Dem if doing so resulted in some significant turnover in GOP leadership. Like booting Mitch McConnell.
Nope, not forgiven.
Vote against the RINO in the primary, against the ‘rat in the general.
RE: Gallup poll shows Tea Party supporters the most motivated to vote
Yes, but are the numbers big enough to make a difference?
They will be needed especially for the Senate races in Georgia, North Carolina and Kansas
YOU guys need to get this into your heads, we who will never again vote the lesser of two evils are not trying to convince YOU not to get onto the republiCrat plantation, it`s just that, well in my case anyway, being from a hardcore democRat family, I escaped from the Rat plantation, so why the F-ing hell would I willingly lock myself onto your Crat plantation?
Enjoy your chains Crat sycophants.
Maybe we know that we need to defeat the Democrats now and deal with the GOPE later!
30 years of that has proved it failed. Best of luck failing more. Or worse, electing Dems in Republican guise.
What people don't realize about Mitch McConnell is that he is right in the middle of the GOP Senate membership. Half way between Ted Cruz and Mike Lee at the top and people like Susan Collins at the bottom.
Would I like Mike Lee to have McConnell's job? You bet I would.
Unfortunately Susan Collins wouldn't and she gets a vote as do all of the other GOPe types in the Senate. Those people are not going to go away in one election cycle. Our goal has to be to help make the Senate more conservative than it is now in each election. That and that alone will allow a more conservative leader to be named. Until then people asking for McConnell's head are just kidding themselves. If he isn't elected this November we will almost certainly be worse off when the Susan Collins crowd gets together and decides on a new leader.
You are talking about 50+ Million voters!
IF they ALL come out to vote we could kick some serious ass.
Well of course. The problem is, we need more of us and the GOPe kicks us to the curb.
Well, I looked at my Election Day schedule and, right now, I’ll be so busy suppressing minority votes that I may not have time to get to the polls.
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