That's the meme of the day, constantly pushed by the lamestream media and their columnists: folks in the Tea Party movement are derided daily as hateful, racist, and much more. But the epithets don't seem to be gaining much traction; over half of Americans, according to recent polling, believe that Tea Party movement folks have a better grasp of the issues than do their elected representatives in the U.S. House and Senate. Less than a third of Americans are still lapping up the stuff that the lamestream media dishes out.
Given that many feel they were sold a bill of fake goods by the lamestream media during the last election cycle, public distrust is understandable. Unsurprisingly, the greatest shift is occurring among Independents. Republicans have remained essentially stable, while a small percentage of Democratics have shifted toward the Independent perspective.
Is this going to be a ground-breaking year for Republicans? Likely not. Hard-core Democratics are counting upon Americans to have a short attention span, and since the effects of their health-insurance bill won't actually be felt for several years, this could well be the scenario. Americans generally tend not to react until they feel the teeth clamping down on their butts.