Matt Collins
11-05-2010, 02:26 PM
New Survey: 35% of Tea Partiers Say They're Libertarians
Fully 35% of attendees at a large recent Tea Party event identified themselves as libertarians. And another 13% hold views that are more libertarian than conservative.
That's the startling finding (http://r20.rs6.net/tn.jsp?llr=yrvogrcab&et=1103866593563&s=57420&e=001LymEdk02sKVHge9LvcNsF3J6R_gWNDqCaQgZuVzPm9-Umgtvz7eruRwcl6iXy2rIGxD7qSrikkZSi4suQrx_grsQQGoou p1f8-YVWPTX9IzP153X8lfAmUR1xUEowDtGkFdKdXeK0UigHHpuLcST cGiR4-EJmtmg) of a survey of 639 attendees at the October 9, 2010 Tea Party Convention in Virginia. The survey was conducted by David Kirby and Emily Ekins of the libertarian Cato Institute. They describe the event as "one of the larger state Tea Party gatherings of its kind to date."
If this holds true for the Tea Party movement at large, it is very good news for libertarians. Recent surveys (http://r20.rs6.net/tn.jsp?llr=yrvogrcab&et=1103866593563&s=57420&e=001LymEdk02sKX9ccfWzm6EM_Z_hrW8PDIKYYgfvjq08tR5c 66YS4QgPP8XtvbRXWTNL5IvponBmnEEP5eHorZn1CiOK1ybgAi O5c9LrwF8GvxzjTAdWKICLQM4UN2V7M3merQX02TH35uzpvEOw xe5IFal0tgqiM9_KGKy0OlspaQ=) have indicated that, while perhaps roughly 15-20% of the American people hold broadly libertarian views, only 2-3 percent self-identify as "libertarian," an indication that the word "libertarian" remains relatively unknown even to people who have more in common with that political view than any other.
But this survey suggests this may be rapidly changing. As Kirby says: "While we know the word 'libertarian' remains unfamiliar to many who hold libertarian beliefs, the word may be gaining traction."
Cato's survey indicates that "Libertarian attitudes are fueling roughly half the Tea Party activists ... These libertarian Tea Partiers believe 'the less government the better' and don't see a role for government in promoting 'traditional values.' This is a big reason why the movement has largely focused on economic matters, resisting attempts to add social issues to its agenda."
The Cato survey indicates that the Tea Party movement is perhaps best understood as a mass movement with, broadly speaking, two evenly sized halves: libertarian and conservative. The two halves have found common ground in opposing government intervention in the economy, opposing bailouts, the federal takeover of the economy, and favoring smaller government and free enterprise.
The Cato survey also found other good news: Tea Party libertarians tend to be younger and better educated than Tea Party conservatives.
One might naturally be suspicious that a survey by the libertarian Cato Institute would find lots of libertarians. However, Kirby points out that its findings parallel the findings of similar recent studies from Politico/Targetpoint and The Washington Post/Kaiser/Harvard that find the Tea Party movement split roughly evenly between libertarians and libertarian-inclined, and conservatives.
This is exciting news for libertarians. At the very least, it would certainly indicate that Tea Party rallies are fertile fishing grounds for those seeking new libertarian activists, and those seeking to bring large numbers of libertarian-leaning folks further along the path to consistent libertarian views.
SOURCE:
http://theadvocates.org/
Fully 35% of attendees at a large recent Tea Party event identified themselves as libertarians. And another 13% hold views that are more libertarian than conservative.
That's the startling finding (http://r20.rs6.net/tn.jsp?llr=yrvogrcab&et=1103866593563&s=57420&e=001LymEdk02sKVHge9LvcNsF3J6R_gWNDqCaQgZuVzPm9-Umgtvz7eruRwcl6iXy2rIGxD7qSrikkZSi4suQrx_grsQQGoou p1f8-YVWPTX9IzP153X8lfAmUR1xUEowDtGkFdKdXeK0UigHHpuLcST cGiR4-EJmtmg) of a survey of 639 attendees at the October 9, 2010 Tea Party Convention in Virginia. The survey was conducted by David Kirby and Emily Ekins of the libertarian Cato Institute. They describe the event as "one of the larger state Tea Party gatherings of its kind to date."
If this holds true for the Tea Party movement at large, it is very good news for libertarians. Recent surveys (http://r20.rs6.net/tn.jsp?llr=yrvogrcab&et=1103866593563&s=57420&e=001LymEdk02sKX9ccfWzm6EM_Z_hrW8PDIKYYgfvjq08tR5c 66YS4QgPP8XtvbRXWTNL5IvponBmnEEP5eHorZn1CiOK1ybgAi O5c9LrwF8GvxzjTAdWKICLQM4UN2V7M3merQX02TH35uzpvEOw xe5IFal0tgqiM9_KGKy0OlspaQ=) have indicated that, while perhaps roughly 15-20% of the American people hold broadly libertarian views, only 2-3 percent self-identify as "libertarian," an indication that the word "libertarian" remains relatively unknown even to people who have more in common with that political view than any other.
But this survey suggests this may be rapidly changing. As Kirby says: "While we know the word 'libertarian' remains unfamiliar to many who hold libertarian beliefs, the word may be gaining traction."
Cato's survey indicates that "Libertarian attitudes are fueling roughly half the Tea Party activists ... These libertarian Tea Partiers believe 'the less government the better' and don't see a role for government in promoting 'traditional values.' This is a big reason why the movement has largely focused on economic matters, resisting attempts to add social issues to its agenda."
The Cato survey indicates that the Tea Party movement is perhaps best understood as a mass movement with, broadly speaking, two evenly sized halves: libertarian and conservative. The two halves have found common ground in opposing government intervention in the economy, opposing bailouts, the federal takeover of the economy, and favoring smaller government and free enterprise.
The Cato survey also found other good news: Tea Party libertarians tend to be younger and better educated than Tea Party conservatives.
One might naturally be suspicious that a survey by the libertarian Cato Institute would find lots of libertarians. However, Kirby points out that its findings parallel the findings of similar recent studies from Politico/Targetpoint and The Washington Post/Kaiser/Harvard that find the Tea Party movement split roughly evenly between libertarians and libertarian-inclined, and conservatives.
This is exciting news for libertarians. At the very least, it would certainly indicate that Tea Party rallies are fertile fishing grounds for those seeking new libertarian activists, and those seeking to bring large numbers of libertarian-leaning folks further along the path to consistent libertarian views.
SOURCE:
http://theadvocates.org/