Tea Partiers Older, More Educated, Wealthier, Poll Finds

Tea Party supporters are generally over 45 and have more education and wealth than average Americans, according to a New York Times/CBS poll released on Wednesday.

The poll, conducted April 5-12, found that 75 percent of Tea Party supporters are over age 45, 80 percent have at least some college education, and 56 percent make over $50,000 a year—with 31 percent making over $75,000 a year.

The numbers collected from the poll suggest that Tea Party supporters are less interested in politics in general but are greatly dissatisfied with the current politics in Washington. Ninety-four percent said that it’s time for new people in Congress and 53 percent said that they are “angry” with what is going on in Washington. These strong political sentiments are coming from a group of which 56 percent say they have never donated or contributed in any way to a political campaign.

Over 90 percent of Tea Party supporters disapprove of President Obama’s handling of the economy, health care, and the federal deficit. Seventy-three percent describe themselves as “somewhat conservative” or “very conservative.” Ninety-two percent said they would prefer if the government was smaller and offered less services.

Their most admired political figures include former House Speaker Newt Gingrich (10 percent) and former Alaska Governor Sarah Palin (9 percent).

The poll sampled 881 Tea Party supporters and has a margin of error of plus or minus 3 percentage points.