Liberal Values Defending Liberty and Enlightened Thought

At the beginning of the year the conventional wisdom was that many Americans were backing the tea party movement as well as the Republicans and the Democrats were in serious trouble. Several news reports and polls suggest that the right may have peaked too soon.

The Washington Post explains that tea party candidates were hurt by the lack of organization in the movement. Like most horse race stories in the mainstream media, the story gets it partially right but misses the major problems faced by the tea party: they are ignorant on the issues and hold extremist views which most Americans would find repulsive if  news reports provided more than a superficial description.

While the media has done a poor job of describing what the tea party really stands for, at least this report does show that more Americans are catching on. They cite a Washington Post-ABC News poll which found that 50 percent of Americans have an unfavorable view of the tea party movement, up from 39 percent in March. This number will grow as more people understand what the tea party actually stands for.

Other polls also show a trend away from the right wing. A new Public Policy Polling survey shows that the Democrats have taken a small lead on the generic Congressional ballot for the first time this year. Another poll shows that Obama leads all opponents in  hypothetical 2012 match ups. The margin is small in some cases, but the advantages of incumbency as well as potential loss of support as the opponents come under greater scrutiny will probably increase this spread further. Mike Huckabee and Mitt Romney currently come closest while Newt Gingrich, Sarah Palin, and Ron Paul trail by large margins.