TEA Party rallies draw mixed opinions in new survey

Most Arkansans have a favorable opinion of the TEA Party rallies, but there is a large group of Arkansans who don’t care about the rallies or don’t know enough about the events to have an opinion.

According to the latest poll released by Roby Brock at TalkBusiness.net, 27% of Arkansans had a “strongly favorable” opinion of the events.

The new poll was conducted through a partnership with Brock, and Little Rock-based political consulting groups The Political Firm and The Markham Group. Brock and his TalkBusiness.net is a content partner with The City Wire.

The TEA (Taxed Enough Already) were held around the country on April 15 and July 4. In the Fort Smith area, Greg White and co-organizer Larry Willis held the rallies in Pendergraft Park in downtown Fort Smith. The Fort Smith Police Department estimated more than 1,400 attended the April 15 rally.

“Tax Day Tea Party,” a Chicago-based volunteer organization, sponsored the April 15 gatherings. Some of the July 4 parties — including the Fort Smith rally — were sponsored by Tupelo, Miss.-based American Family Association, which said it had almost 1,300 cities lined up for a July 4 rally.

Brock’s poll asked this question: Do you have a favorable or unfavorable impression of the TEA Party protests? And is that strongly or somewhat favorable or unfavorable?

Strongly favorable: 27%
Somewhat favorable: 13%
Somewhat unfavorable: 9%
Strongly unfavorable: 11%
No opinion: 21%
Don’t know: 19%

Link here for more commentary from Brock about this survey.

RECENT SURVEYS
Brock has released three other timely survey results in the past few weeks. The Talk Business Quarterly poll shows that most Arkansans reject the expansion of federal health care; that cable television news channels, local television news and Web sites are the top three places most Arkansans get their news; and that most Arkansans have an unfavorable opinion of the new Arkansas lottery program.