American Values Survey: Tea Party is a Branch of the Religious Right
Not to say, “I told you so,” but the new study from the Public Religion Research Institute confirms the major point about the Tea Party movement I’ve been making all year: it’s dominated by the religious right.
Nearly half (47%) also say they are part of the religious right or conservative Christian movement. Among the more than 8-in-10 (81%) who identify as Christian within the Tea Party movement, 57% also consider themselves part of the Christian conservative movement.
They make up just 11% of the adult population—half the size of the conservative Christian movement (22%).
They are mostly social conservatives, not libertarians on social issues. Nearly two-thirds (63%) say abortion should be illegal in all or most cases, and less than 1-in-5 (18%) support allowing gay and lesbian couples to marry.
They are largely Republican partisans. More than three-quarters say they identify with (48%) or lean towards (28%) the Republican Party. More than 8-in-10 (83%) say they are voting for or leaning towards Republican candidates in their districts, and nearly three-quarters (74%) of this group report usually supporting Republican candidates.