Thread: A POLITICO survey: The tea party's least favorite Republican

John McCain was voted the WORST of the bunch!

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A POLITICO survey: The tea party's least favorite Republicans

By KENNETH P. VOGEL | 3/13/10 7:54 PM EST



The tea party movement exploded onto the political scene in 2009 as a backlash to the agenda pushed by President Barack Obama and congressional Democrats, but a little more than a year later, a POLITICO survey found tea party activists unhappy with many of the biggest names in the Republican Party.

And that could complicate GOP plans to harness the energy of the tea parties as they head into the November midterm elections with hopes of rearranging the balance of power in Washington.

In a survey of more than three dozen grass-roots tea party leaders from 29 states, the party’s 2008 presidential nominee, Sen. John McCain, was the Republican most cited as a disappointment. Asked which three national Republicans they were most unhappy with, McCain was named by 18 respondents.

Other congressional Republicans considered disappointments included moderate-leaning Sens. Lindsey Graham of South Carolina and Susan Collins and Olympia Snowe of Maine, as well as Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger of California.

But also receiving multiple votes were two prominent party spokesmen, Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell and Republican National Committee Chairman Michael Steele (who finished second to McCain), and two possible candidates for the party’s 2012 presidential nomination, former Govs. Mitt Romney of Massachusetts and Mike Huckabee of Arkansas.

Those surveyed made it clear they hold greater disdain for Democrats, but they are also strongly opposed to tolerating Republican politicians who stray even slightly from the principles tea party activists hold dear. For the most part, those principles are fiscal restraint and limited government, but for a smaller group they include conservative social issues and a hawkish foreign policy.

“Save for Ron Paul, I'm not really happy with many Republican officials,â€

This is great news! I had to post this last night. McCain is in deep trouble.

W