Polling on Tea Parties

Rasmussen has an interesting poll on people's attitudes toward recent tea parties (top line results), finding that 51% of respondents have favorable views of Tea Parties (vs 33% unfavorable).  Among adults surveyed, 58% followed news about the Tea Parties, and 25% percent knew someone attending a tea party.

More interesting is their break between the Mainstream/majority of people and the "Political Class".  They divide the Mainstream and Political Class as such:

Most Americans trust the judgment of the public more than political leaders, view the federal government as a special interest group and believe that big business and big government work together against the interests of investors and consumers.

An earlier poll finds that 55% of Americans are "Mainstream" (75% when leaners are included) vs. only 7% in the "Political Class" (14% with leaners).  Just to repeat: the mainstream view, held by a majority of Americans - this is also the view of the Commonwealth Foundation - is to mistrust the judgment of elected officials, that government is a special interest, and that big business loves big government.

That being said, 80% of the Political Class viewed tea parties negatively - but only 32% were following the tea parties, and only 1% knew someone at a tea party.