Poll: Key Birther and Neo-Confederate Demographics Align
There was speculation earlier this year that the true dynamic behind the tea-bagging movement was not opposition to taxes but rather racist anger over the election of an African-American president. After all, taxes had been lowered, not raised at that point, and the only tax hikes on the table targeted people making over $250,000 per year, which was probably about five or six times the income of an average tea-bagger family of four.
The tea-bagging movement appears to have ended on July 4, when attendance at rallies was down across the country, in part because Fox News failed to promote the events 24/7 as they had for events in April.
Birthers were out in force at tea-bagger rallies from the beginning, carrying signs demanding that Pres. Obama release his birth certificate — which, of course, his campaign had done in June 2008. (To see how the connection lives on in the Intertubes, just plug keywords like “tea party,” “obama” and “birth certificate” into the Google and stand back.)
As tea bagging sputters to an end, Birtherism appears to be moving up. For example, there are a dozen or so proud Birthers in the U.S. House, including one marquee brand name, Rep. Marsha Blackburn of Tennessee, and one in the Senate, Richard Shelby of Alabama.
Now a new poll has found that Birthers are predominantly Republicans — no surprise there — and that the South leads all other regions by far as a hotbed of Birtherism.
