Tea Partiers have been dismissed as a fringe, but two new polls suggest the conservative movement might be going mainstream.

A Rasmussen poll released Monday found more Americans identify with the Tea Party groups than with President Obama.

According to the survey, 48 percent of voters said the average Tea Party activist is more aligned with their views on major issues than the president. Forty-four percent said Obama's views are closer to theirs.

That came on top of a USA Today/Gallup poll that found more than a quarter of Americans affiliate themselves with the Tea Party movement.

The poll of 1,033 adults, conducted March 26-28, found 28 percent of people call themselves Tea Party supporters, while 26 percent call themselves opponents.

The survey also found that Tea Party supporters are not disproportionately dominated by any one demographic group. The characteristics of Tea Party supporters -- in age, education, income and race -- roughly follow the characteristics of the nation as a whole.

The Gallup poll had a margin of error of 4 percentage points.

The Rasmussen poll of 1,000 likely voters was taken April 2-3. It had a margin of error of 3 percentage points.

http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2010/04/06/tea-party-going-mainstream-polls-suggest-movement-gaining-popularity/

Did you catch this "The survey also found that Tea Party supporters are not disproportionately dominated by any one demographic group. The characteristics of Tea Party supporters -- in age, education, income and race -- roughly follow the characteristics of the nation as a whole."

So much for the race card.........

"The survey also found that Tea Party supporters are not disproportionately dominated by any one demographic group. The characteristics of Tea Party supporters -- in age, education, income and race -- roughly follow the characteristics of the nation as a whole. "

POX imaginary news...the T-Baggers, 40% unfavorable view. Me? I just laugh...

Once again you have to resort to personal attacks and name calling.

what do you expect from a left wing ideologue propagandist?

Not much, I guess.........

Ever notice how the libwhack crew jumps to the personal attack when their position is indefensible ... ? Y' just gotta laff at 'em ... they used to be 'cute' - now they're just annoying. Vapidity, thy name is 'liberal'.

That's exactly it. They constantly lose on the issues so they resort to school yard name calling and bullying.

And they wonder why they don't get any respect ... HA ... ! Earn it ... !

There are a few that I have a lot of respect for actually. One of my best friends is a Democrat and a constant candidate(who I help out). He never resorts to name calling (Right wingnuts, teabaggers, neonaziconservatives etc.) because he can have an actual intelligent conversation.

Faux news is not real news. And definitely not trustworthy.

It is lies.

Or better yet wishful thinking for the few tea baggers out there, well, wishful thinking for the few non-racist tea baggers out there

Kinda like it being wishful thinking to believe there are a few nonracist liberals out there huh?

Frankly i kinda like to see the spirit of resistance in citizens. The aristocracy needs to know that they don't have the power. They need to be humbled and humbled often.

Problem is, they resist and demonstrate, but don't seem to be doing much these days. Perhaps they could offer other solutions and peach them just as loud?

Anyhow, gotta get back to work, later yall.

Once again you don't have anything constructive to say so you just resort to name calling and personal attacks.

I hope the tea party isn't republician or democrate . Other wise its the same ol stuff in a different bag .

ALBANY, N.Y. (AP) - They've been called Oreos, traitors and Uncle Toms, and are used to having to defend their values. Now black conservatives are really taking heat for their involvement in the mostly white tea party movement—and for having the audacity to oppose the policies of the nation's first black president.

"I've been told I hate myself. I've been called an Uncle Tom. I've been told I'm a spook at the door," said Timothy F. Johnson, chairman of the Frederick Douglass Foundation, a group of black conservatives who support free market principles and limited government.

"Black Republicans find themselves always having to prove who they are. Because the assumption is the Republican Party is for whites and the Democratic Party is for blacks," he said.

Johnson and other black conservatives say they were drawn to the tea party movement because of what they consider its commonsense fiscal values of controlled spending, less taxes and smaller government. The fact that they're black—or that most tea partyers are white—should have nothing to do with it, they say.

"You have to be honest and true to yourself. What am I supposed to do, vote Democratic just to be popular? Just to fit in?" asked Clifton Bazar, a 45-year-old New Jersey freelance photographer and conservative blogger.

Opponents have branded the tea party as a group of racists hiding behind economic concerns—and reports that some tea partyers were lobbing racist slurs at black congressmen during last month's heated health care vote give them ammunition.

But these black conservatives don't consider racism representative of the movement as a whole—or race a reason to support it.

Angela McGlowan, a black congressional candidate from Mississippi, said her tea party involvement is "not about a black or white issue."

"It's not even about Republican or Democrat, from my standpoint," she told The Associated Press. "All of us are taxed too much."

Still, she's in the minority. As a nascent grassroots movement with no registration or formal structure, there are no racial demographics available for the tea party movement; it's believed to include only a small number of blacks and Hispanics.

Some black conservatives credit President Barack Obama's election—and their distaste for his policies—with inspiring them and motivating dozens of black Republicans to plan political runs in November.

For black candidates like McGlowan, tea party events are a way to reach out to voters of all races with her conservative message.

"I'm so proud to be a part of this movement! I want to tell you that a lot of people underestimate you guys," the former national political commentator for Fox News told the cheering crowd at a tea party rally in Nashville, Tenn., in February.

Tea party voters represent a new model for these black conservatives—away from the black, liberal Democratic base located primarily in cities, and toward a black and white conservative base that extends into the suburbs.

Black voters have overwhelmingly backed Democratic candidates, support that has only grown in recent years. In 2004, presidential candidate Sen. John Kerry won 88 percent of the black vote; four years later, 95 percent of black voters cast ballots for Obama.

Black conservatives don't want to have to apologize for their divergent views.

"I've gotten the statement, 'How can you not support the brother?'" said David Webb, an organizer of New York City's Tea Party 365, Inc. movement and a conservative radio personality.

Since Obama's election, Webb said some black conservatives have even resorted to hiding their political views.

"I know of people who would play the (liberal) role publicly, but have their private opinions," he said. "They don't agree with the policy but they have to work, live and exist in the community ... Why can't we speak openly and honestly if we disagree?"

Among the 37 black Republicans running for U.S. House and Senate seats in November is Charles Lollar of Maryland's 5th District.

A tea party supporter running against House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer, D-Md., Lollar says he's finding support in unexpected places.

The 38-year-old U.S. Marine Corps reservist recently walked into a bar in southern Maryland decorated with a Confederate flag. It gave his wife Rosha pause.

"I said, 'You know what, honey? Many, many of our Southern citizens came together under that flag for the purpose of keeping their family and their state together,'" Lollar recalled. "The flag is not what you're to fear. It's the stupidity behind the flag that is a problem. I don't think we'll find that in here. Let's go ahead in."

Once inside, they were treated to a pig roast, a motorcycle rally—and presented with $5,000 in contributions for his campaign.

McGlowan, one of three GOP candidates in north Mississippi's 1st District primary, seeks a seat held since 2008 by Democrat Travis Childers. The National Republican Congressional Committee has supported Alan Nunnelee, chairman of the state Senate Appropriations Committee, who is also pursuing tea party voters.

McGlowan believes the tea party movement has been unfairly portrayed as monolithically white, male and middle-aged, though she acknowledged blacks and Hispanics are a minority at most events.

Racist protest signs at some tea party rallies and recent reports by U.S. Reps. John Lewis, D-Ga., and Barney Frank, D-Mass., that tea partyers shouted racial and anti-gay slurs at them have raised allegations of racism in the tea party movement.

Black members of the movement say it is not inherently racist, and some question the reported slurs. "You would think—something that offensive—you would think someone got video of it," Bazar, the conservative blogger, said.

"Just because you have one nut case, it doesn't automatically equate that you've got an organization that espouses (racism) as a sane belief," Johnson said.

Hilary Shelton, director of the Washington bureau of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, suggested a bit of caution.

"I'm sure the reason that (black conservatives) are involved is that from an ideological perspective, they agree," said Shelton. "But when those kinds of things happen, it is very important to be careful of the company that you keep."

___
By VALERIE BAUMAN
Associated Press Writer

Associated Press writers Brian Witte in Maryland and Emily Wagster Pettus in Mississippi contributed to this report.

good article,, stereotypes are always counterproductive,,,whether it be that tea partiers are all racists or that those voting for OBama did so just because of his race,,,

It is good to see people on EVERY political front who can use logic and common sense...

please show me...where is the personal attack at? oh wait your real name must be fox news...makes sense now..epic fail

please

try a little bit harder

Who is "they"?

I was wondering where the personal attack was too.