With all of the sturm und drang with respect to the role of social issues in the Tea Party movement, it's nice to get some actual data in the form of a new poll by CBS and the New York Times of self-identified Tea Party sympathizers.
It turns out that the Tea Partiers are not primarily motivated by social issues, and, for the most part, hold social views that lean to the right, but are generally in line with the mainstream of American society as a whole.
I've taken the time to look into the numbers a bit, and here's what I've found . . .
On the general importance of social issues, Tea Partiers mirror almost exactly the views of the country as a whole: only 14% of Tea Partiers think that social issues are more important than economic issues; the number for the general population is 13%.
Likewise, on legal immigration, the Tea Partiers mirror almost exactly the views of the country as a whole: for both groups, 35-39% think it should be kept at its current level, 41-42% would like to see it decreased, and 14-16% support an increase.
On illegal immigration, the Tea Partiers are somewhat to the right of the American mainstream, but large majorities of both groups (97% of Tea Partiers and 83% of Americans) consider it to be a very serious or somewhat serious problem (with the Tea Partiers weighted more towards "very" than the country as a whole).
On gay marriage, Tea Partiers also lean more conservative than the rest of the country, but not by a wide margin. A plurality of Tea Partiers favors allowing for civil unions, while the American population in general is more polarized between those who favor marriage rights (39%) and those who reject all legal recognition for gay unions (30%), with only 24% favoring civil unions.
A small minority of both Tea Partiers and the rest of America (32% and 23%, respectively) support making abortion illegal, though Tea Partiers are more likely to support some restrictions on its availability.
On racial issues, large majorities of both Tea Partiers and Americans in general (73% and 60%, respectively) believe that everyone has an equal chance at success in today's society, regardless of race, and large majorities of both (65% and 83%) also believe that Obama's policies do not favor blacks over whites, or vice-versa.
Now, if you look at the sections of the poll that deal with President Obama, his policies and the Congress, you'll find Tea Party views that are much more at variance to those of the American public as a whole. For example, 89% of Tea Partiers agree that "In trying to solve the economic problems facing the country, do you think Barack Obama has expanded the role of government too much" versus just 37% of Americans in general. 93% of Tea Partiers disapprove of Obama's handling of health care versus 51% of Americans as whole.
But unless the Tea Partiers were lying to the pollsters, their movement is primarily motivated by issues relating to the deficit, the economy, taxes and the role of government, not social issues such as race, gay marriage and abortion, and in fact, the Tea Partiers' views on such issues, while more conservative, are not radically out of step with the rest of America.
Why should we care? Although the Tea Partiers definitely lean to the right of the political spectrum, Four in 10 Tea Party members are Democrats or Independents. There have always been tensions within the Republican Party between social conservatives and fiscal conservative/libertarians -- it's far from certain that Tea Partiers will find a happy home within the Republican Party.
It might be interesting to note also, that the poll found that 47% of the Tea Party found Sarah Palin lacking the ability to be an effective President. Should we really be mocking and ridiculing them, accusing them of racism and even sedition (and thereby alienating them)? Maybe we should be reaching out to them, listening to what they have to say, and finding common ground where possible. After all, we are all Americans who want what's best for our country, right?