The Fix: Is the tea party part of the GOP? Most Republicans say no.

[DonViejo]

Sean Sullivan, The Washington Post

The latest Pew Research Center poll is chock full of data revealing an emerging rift between tea party-aligned Republicans and the rest of the party. But if there is one area of relative agreement, it’s this: a belief that tea party is independent from the GOP.

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More than half of all Republicans (51 percent) say the the tea party is separate. Only about three in 10 say it is part of the Republican Party. Nearly equal shares of tea party Republicans and Republican-leaning independents (52 percent) and non-tea party Republicans and GOP-leaning independents (55 percent) say the movement is separate from the GOP.

Interestingly, tea party Republicans and GOP leaners increasingly see their movement as part of the GOP. Back in 2011, nearly seven in 10 said it was a separate entity. And now, they are more likely than non-tea party Republicans to say the movement is part of the GOP.

Still, the fact that more than half of Republicans and GOP-leaning independents aligned with the tea party now see the movement as distinct from the GOP suggests the link isn’t that strong, in their view.

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[JoePhilly]

1. Its the GOP's craziest base members. Nothing more.

[DetlefK]

2. Never seen this guy. Never met this guy. Never talked to him.

The Tea Party isn't a republican phenomenon. If you look up its founding-myth, you will see that it's a grass-root organization started by independents who just happened to march in lock-step with the GOP until that point.

[Citizen Seattle]

3. Ok, NOW do you think the country will consider Jeb Bush and Liz Cheney moderates?

Is is possible that the Republicans behind the curtain are rubbing their hands together in anticipation? Now that they've allowed Bachmann, Palin, Wilson, Cruz, DeMint, Issa, Ryan et all to have their 15 minutes, they can slide in and sound reasonable by comparison? Watch and wait....

[Blue Meany]

4. I hope the Tea Party does split from the Republicans, so that there will be room for a

leftists/environmental party on the other side of the spectrum, which could make common cause with them on issues like corporate bail outs and NSA spaying, and pull centrist Democrats and Republicans to the left. At least it would open up political discourse in the country to some broader possibilities than are currently deemed acceptable in Washington.

[kestrel91316]

5. Me need to start going all "Joe McCarthy" on their asses:

"Are you now or have you ever been a member of the teabaggers?"

"Are you now or have you ever been a Dominionist?"

[Beacool]

6. Mainstream Republicans do not want to be associated with the Tea Party.

Just like with the Democratic party, there are different factions. The Tea Party crowd may be the most vocal, but they are not the majority.

The Republican Party needs to do some soul searching and decide what kind of party it wants to be. If they keep catering to the extremists, they will lose at the national level for years to come. They won't see the WH for some time, that's for sure.

[Wounded Bear]

7. Blah, blah, blah....

Been hearing this shit for years. "I'm not a Republican, I'm an Independant."

SSDD. Know them by their actions. If they support/vote for Repubs, their pat themselves on the back self-labeling matters not a whit.

Yeah, and all of those "Both parties are the same" assholes tend to attack Dems FAR more than they do Reps.

That's been my experience.

[TeamPooka]

8. "I'm shocked to be associated with these people I voted for...twice." nt