August 8, 2011 2:57pm by David Farrar

The truth about the Tea Party

In my By the numbers blog at Stuff, I reveal some stats on Tea Party supporters, which may surprise some:

43% of Tea Party supporters have an unfavourable view of the Republican Party.
Only 40% of Tea Party supporters think Sarah Palin has the ability to be an effective president.
57% of Tea Party supporters think gay couples should be able to enter a civil union or marry.
Only 18% of Tea Party supporters say they always vote Republican.
36% of Tea Party supporters identify as Independents, and 5% as Democrats.

There’s already a furious debate at Stuff over my characterisation of them.