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Tea Party candidates could damage Republicans

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Activists wearing Boston Tea Party-themed costumes gather to participate in a tax revolt rally in Santa Barbara, California, in this April 4, 2009 file photo. REUTERS/Rebecca Cook

Activists wearing Boston Tea Party-themed costumes gather to participate in a tax revolt rally in Santa Barbara, California, in this April 4, 2009 file photo.

Credit: Reuters/Rebecca Cook

WASHINGTON | Wed Mar 24, 2010 3:32pm EDT

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A new poll had good news and bad news for Republicans on Wednesday -- they lead Democrats in November congressional elections but would lose if a Tea Party candidate is included on the ballot.

The poll by Quinnipiac University said voters by 44 percent to 39 percent said they planned to vote for a Republican over a Democratic candidate in November, the latest sign of a rebirth of the Republican Party.

However, if there is a Tea Party candidate on the ballot, the Democrat would get 36 percent to 25 percent for the Republican and 15 percent to the Tea Party representative.

The poll was further evidence that the Tea Party movement largely draws from the Republican Party. It said only 13 percent of American voters say they are part of the movement.

Republicans have been working to find ways to absorb unpredictable Tea Party followers into their fold.

The poll found that 74 percent of Tea Party supporters are Republican or independents who lean Republican, while 16 percent are Democrats or independents who lean Democratic.

(Reporting by Steve Holland, editing by David Alexander)

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Comments (54)
DCX2 wrote:
Dear Tea Partiers – you will be very disappointed when you find out that the Republicans are playing you like a fiddle. Republicans and Democrats are interested in serving only one thing: the corporations who fund their campaigns.
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Republicans are not “fiscal conservatives”. They squandered Clinton’s surplus. They funded the Iraq War with “emergency” supplemental spending bills that add hundreds of billions of dollars to the deficit. They even created DHS, a whole new branch of government!

Mar 24, 2010 3:53pm EDT  --  Report as abuse
ScottAlber wrote:
Please lets keep the Tea Party folks in the Republican party. I would rather they tear that party apart than the Democrats. Democrats do enough damage to themselves without outside help.

Mar 24, 2010 4:04pm EDT  --  Report as abuse
Empress wrote:
I am puzzled why coverage about this group is not confined to the Comedy Channel?

Although their show for dough poicy at least garners them some income.

VERY, VERY saddened by the hatred that motivates this group…too similar to the Taliban for my taste.

Mar 24, 2010 4:04pm EDT  --  Report as abuse
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