Tea party supporters are wealthier and more well-educated than the general public; they tend to be Republican, white, male and married; and their strong opposition to the Obama administration is more rooted in political ideology than anxiety about their personal economic situation, according to the latest New York Times/CBS News poll.
The 18 percent of Americans who say they are tea party supporters look like Republicans in many ways, but they hold more conservative views on a range of issues than Republicans generally and tend to be older. They are also more likely to describe themselves as "very conservative" and President Barack Obama as "very liberal."
And while most Republicans say they are "dissatisfied" with Washington, tea party supporters are more likely to classify themselves as "angry."
In some ways, tea party supporters look like the general public. For instance, despite their allusions to Revolutionary War-era tax protesters, most describe the amount they paid in taxes this year as "fair." Most send their children to public schools, do not think Sarah Palin is qualified to be president and, despite their push for smaller government, think that Social Security and Medicare are worth the cost.
They are actually more likely than the general public to have returned their census forms, though some conservative leaders are urging a boycott.
Going the wrong way
Their fierce animosity toward Washington, and the president in particular, is rooted in deep pessimism about the direction of the country and the conviction that the policies of the Obama administration are disproportionately directed at helping the poor rather than the middle class or the rich.
The overwhelming majority of tea party supporters say that Obama does not share the values most Americans live by and that he does not understand the problems of people like themselves. More than half say the policies of the administration favor the poor, and 25 percent think that the administration favors blacks over whites - compared with 11 percent of the general public.
They are more likely than the general public, and Republicans, to say that too much has been made of the problems facing black people.
Asked what they are angry about, tea party supporters offered three main concerns:
The recent health care overhaul.
Government spending.
A feeling that their opinions are not represented in Washington.
"The only way they will stop the spending is to have a revolt on their hands," Elwin Thrasher, a 66-year-old semiretired lawyer in Florida, said in an interview after the poll. "I'm sick and tired of them wasting money and doing what our founders never intended to be done with the federal government."
More than 90 percent of tea party supporters think the country is headed in the wrong direction, compared with about 60 percent of the general public. About 6 in 10 say America's best days are behind it when it comes to the availability of good jobs for American workers.
Nearly 9 in 10 disapprove of the job Obama is doing overall, and about the same percentage fault his handling of major issues: health care, the economy and the federal budget deficit. Ninety-two percent believe Obama is moving the country toward socialism - an opinion shared by about half the general public.
"I just feel he's getting away from what America is," said Kathy Mayhugh, 67, a retired medical transcriber in Jacksonville, Fla. "He's a socialist. And to tell you the truth, I think he's a Muslim and trying to head us in that direction, I don't care what he says. He's been in office over a year and can't find a church to go to. That doesn't say much for him."
Blaming Congress
Like most Americans, tea party supporters think the most pressing problems facing the country today are the economy and jobs.
But while most Americans blame the Bush administration or Wall Street for the current state of the American economy, the greatest number of tea party supporters blame Congress.
While the tea party supporters are more conservative than Republicans on social issues, they do not want to focus on those issues: About 8 in 10 say that they are more concerned with economic issues.
When talking about the tea party movement, the largest number of respondents said that the movement's goal should be reducing the size of government, more than cutting the budget deficit or lowering taxes.
And nearly three-quarters said that they would prefer smaller government even if it means that spending on domestic programs would be cut.
But in follow-up interviews, tea party supporters said they did not want to cut Medicare or Social Security - the biggest domestic programs, suggesting instead a focus on "waste."
Some defended being on Social Security while fighting big government by saying that since they had paid into the system, they deserved the benefits.
Others could not explain the contradiction.
"I guess I want smaller government and my Social Security," said Jodine White, 62, of Rocklin, Calif. "I didn't look at it from the perspective of losing things I need. I think I've changed my mind."
About the poll: The nationwide telephone poll was conducted April 5-12 with 1,580 adults. The margin of sampling error is plus or minus 3 percentage points.
