Voters Say Tea Party Understands Issues Better Than Congress, Presidential Health Care Bump Disappears

The elitists in the Mainstream media as well as the progressives in Congress are petrified of the Tea Party movement, that's the only explanation for the venom they continue to heap upon protesters. Effete snobs such ad Cookie Roberts of ABC, or Abe Foxman of the ADL, look for any way to show their acute disdain for this grass roots movement of the American people mostly by taking one beyond the pale poster, creating a false report of violence and using it to impute the entire movement.

They better show caution because these tea party protesters represent the viewers the media isn't getting and the key voters in many of the same districts of the congressmen bashing the tea parties. And according to Rasmussen, most Americans believe the Tea Party movement has a better understanding of the issues that face America that those same congressman who turn their nose up at the tea partiers.

The survey finds that by a 52% to 30% margin most voters believe the average member of the Tea Party movement has a better understanding of the issues than the average member of Congress. Also significant is the fact that 47% think that the views of average Tea Party protester is closer to their own views that the average member of congress (26% felt congresses views are closer to their own).

Most voters also feel  the Tea Party moment is more ethical than Congress, 46% of voters say that the average Tea Party member is more ethical than the average member of Congress, (27%) say chose the  average member of Congress.

As you would expect, there is a wide divide between the Political Class (35% of voters, people who look for more government control) and Mainstream Americans (65% of voters, people who want to rule themselves)  on these questions. Seventy-five percent of those in the Political Class say that members of Congress are better informed on the issues. Among Mainstream Americans, 68% have the opposite view. Also not surprising is, by a 62% to 12% margin, Mainstream Americans say the Tea Party is closer to their views ,and by a 90% to one percent (1%) margin, the Political Class feels closer to Congress.

Clearly the President Obama and the Congressional progressives are representing that 35% represented by the Political class and ignoring mainstream voters who represent the majority, that is what gave birth to the Tea Party movement.

On all questions, Republicans overwhelming prefer the Tea Party. Unaffiliated voters also prefer the Tea Party by wide margins, but Congress fares a bit better with unaffiliateds than they do with Republicans.

Democrats, perhaps not surprisingly since their party currently controls both the House and Senate, are more evenly divided. Forty-five percent (45%) of those in Nancy Pelosi’s party say that their views are closer to the average member of Congress. However, 28% of Democrats say their views are closer to the average member of the Tea Party.

Men are more likely to align with the Tea Party than women, but a plurality of women prefer the Tea Party over Congress on every question in the survey.

Also announced by Rasmussen today is the bump that President Obama got from the passage of his Health Care bill has gone away. Last Sunday, the day Obamacare was passed the President's approval index was at a -16, he spent most of the week at around a -10, but as more comes out about the hidden provisions in Obamacare, perhaps aided by his rude treatment of Israel, a popular ally,  his rating has fallen the past three days and he is back down to the -16 approval index.

Date	Presidential Approval Index	Strongly Approve	Strongly Disapprove	Total Approve	Total Disapprove
3/28/2010	-16	28%	44%	47%	53%
3/27/2010	-13	30%	43%	47%	53%
3/26/2010	-10	31%	41%	49%	51%
3/25/2010	-10	32%	42%	48%	51%
3/24/2010	-11	31%	42%	48%	52%
3/23/2010	-10	31%	41%	48%	52%
3/22/2010	-12	29%	41%	47%	53%
3/21/2010	-16	26%	42%	45%	54%

Based on this research and others like it, it seems as if every time the President and his progressives attack the Tea Party Movement or their policies, they lose popularity, because they keep forgetting the real name of the tea party participants, American Citizens who vote. If they don't remember before, they will learn that fact in November 2010.