Poll: Tea Party draws 2 schools of thought

WASHINGTON, April 19 (UPI) -- Tea Party activists rally around two political thoughts: one libertarian-leaning and the other culturally conservative, a Politico poll indicated Monday.

The Politico-TargetPoint survey, conducted Thursday as the Tax Day protest in Washington concluded, also found attendees held negative views of President Barack Obama and the Democratic party, with roughly 75 percent of respondents saying they believed Obama was "pursuing a socialist agenda."

While down on the Democratic Party, Tea Party activists surveyed said they weren't high on the Republican Party, either. The survey found three of four protest participants said they were "scared about the direction" of the country and "want to send a message to both political parties."

The results indicate a schism in the Tea Party movement's base, personified by former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin and Rep. Ron Paul, R-Texas, who respondents listed most when asked who "best exemplifies the goals of the tea party movement," Politico said.

Palin represents the views for 43 percent of those polled expressing the conservative view that government does too much, and needs to promote traditional values. She topped the list of personalities named with 15 percent.

Paul's train of thought was reflected by 42 percent of respondents who said government does too much and should not try to promote any particular set of values. With 12 percent, Paul was second to Palin of the people named.

The Politico-TargetPoint poll asked 457 protest attendees in a five-hour period during Thursday's event to complete the self-administered, anonymous questionnaire. The response rate was 58 percent, and the sampling error is 5 percentage points.