Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

When they say they’re pro-life, they don’t mean yours.

I have other things to bitch about but those will have to wait.

“Everybody’s entitled to be an idiot.”

When do we start airlifting the women and children out of Texas?

It’s all just conspiracy shit beamed down from the mothership.

Republicans want to make it harder to vote and easier for them to cheat.

The choice is between normal and crazy.

“When somebody takes the time to draw up a playbook, they’re gonna use it.”

This fight is for everything.

if you can’t see it, then you are useless in the fight to stop it.

I desperately hope that, yet again, i am wrong.

… gradually, and then suddenly.

Prediction: the gop will rethink its strategy of boycotting future committees.

The real work of an opposition party is to oppose.

Wow, I can’t imagine what it was like to comment in morse code.

Many life forms that would benefit from greater intelligence, sadly, do not have it.

My right to basic bodily autonomy is not on the table. that’s the new deal.

This really is a full service blog.

Yeah, with this crowd one never knows.

The rest of the comments were smacking Boebert like she was a piñata.

The arc of history bends toward the same old fuckery.

Something needs to be done about our bogus SCOTUS.

There are a lot more evil idiots than evil geniuses.

A norm that restrains only one side really is not a norm – it’s a trap.

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Whatever

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I’m calling bullshit:

Running under the Tea Party brand may be better in congressional races than being a Republican.

In a three-way Generic Ballot test, the latest Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey finds Democrats attracting 36% of the vote. The Tea Party candidate picks up 23%, and Republicans finish third at 18%. Another 22% are undecided.

Rasmussen’s raison d’être in between elections is to push the overton window to the right. The way they make their money is telling wingers what they want to hear for 46 months, then they swing back in line for one month every two years so they don’t look like total idiots and retain some credibility. They are the echo chamber’s official polling place.

Reader Interactions

58Comments

  1. 1.

    Indy

    Here in my conservative virginia state house district (VA-99), the teabagger (Cathrine Crabill, she won brief notoriety) won the republican primary, and then lost in the general to a man I voted for mostly because of his ability to put his pants on one leg at a time.

  2. 2.

    Jim

    In Texas, Alabama, Idaho, Wyoming… maybe. This is supposed to be a national poll? I, too, will go with bullshit.

  3. 3.

    4tehlulz

    In a three-way Generic Ballot test, the latest Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey finds Democrats attracting 36% of the vote. The Tea Party candidate picks up 23%, and Republicans finish third at 18%. Another 22% are undecided.

    Too good to be true, so no.

  5. 5.

    Just Some Fuckhead

    In other words, 23% of poll respondents are too ashamed to align with Republican but not self-aware enough to eschew teabagging.

  7. 7.

    SpotWeld

    Running under the Tea Party brand may be better in congressional races than being a Republican.

    Correction… it’ll be a better way to get media attention than being a Republican.

    The freakshow always gets the camera lens

  9. 9.

    BB

    Exactly, John.

    Of course the village pretends that Ras is reliable and everything, but I’m sick of them getting due consideration on otherwise level-headed blogs.

    It’s not some charming “oh rasmussen, you little scamps” situation. They don’t just happen to show Republican results. The races they poll serve a purpose, and the results are designed to drive a narrative.

    Ask yourself this- which polls are given greater credence by the MSM, Politico and the like- Rasmuseen or R2K? Take the obvious answer and throw it on top the growing pile of ways that Washington is subtly but decidedly wired for conservative control.

  11. 11.

    demkat620

    I really can’t wait till the teabaggers announce their agenda:

    1. Investigate Obama’s Birth Certificate
    2. ???
    3.Profit

  12. 12.

    Dave L

    “Tea Party brand” – that about sums it up. Because there’s no Tea Party ideology, that’s for sure. It’s an attitude — mostly resentment, I’d say — and no more.

    The real question I’d like to see answered, even by Rasmussen, is whether the 18% who picked “Republican” in the generic ballot would vote for a Teabagger in a real election. My guess is that not many would.

  14. 14.

    MikeJ

    @John Cole: If alcohol is the excuse for bad punctuation, how much does Yglesias drink starting first thing in the morning? Should we have an intervention?

    First I took Manhattan. But I didn’t know a cocktail named Berlin so I’m having another Manhattan. +2.

  21. 21.

    PaulW

    In a three-way Generic Ballot test, the latest Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey finds Democrats attracting 36% of the vote. The Tea Party candidate picks up 23%, and Republicans finish third at 18%. Another 22% are undecided.

    What does it tell you when the Democrat candidate still gets more votes at the 36 percent?

    And is there in fact a Tea Party? Seriously? ‘Cause last I checked the Tea Party HAD a Party, called the Republicans.

    This poll was a waste of time and money.

  22. 22.

    Zifnab25

    Hey, the GOP brand is in the tank. America has a long tradition of faking Libertarianism (see: Ross Perot, Pat Buchanan). It’s not crazy to see the Teabagger label as a great rebrand for the conservative philosophy.

    And I’m not sure how the GOP can move farther to the right. Let the base show up to the poll in tin foil hats. Put a Hoffman in every race. :-p. We’ll see how long the media love affair lasts.

  23. 23.

    lamh31

    I gotta say though, I ain’t mad at this kid (Levi J). Betta get all ya got while it’s hot.

    I can actually believe that this poll is correct here in texas.

    Last week/month, I read that KBHutchison decided not to resign her Senatorship(?) to run for Gov of texas. She plans to run for gov and still “serve the best interest of her state”. I think KBH knows that she ain’t gonna be able to out “teabag” Guv helmet head (R Perry), or she isn’t so willing to turn completely over to the “dark side” like guv “Texas don’t need no US guv’mint” Perry. The sad fact is though, that even though KBH may not win the Repub primary in Texas, she would probably actually be a better candidate than Perry, especially in terms of actually nominating a Repub that Dems here in Tx might actually vote for.

  24. 24.

    valdivia

    @lamh31:

    I gotta say though, I ain’t mad at this kid (Levi J). Betta get all ya got while it’s hot.

    Totally with you on this.

  25. 25.

    MikeJ

    Urgh. Mom just called. “Can you come over? We just got a tree, and they’re following us home with it in a truck. Can you help bring it in?”

    Mom likes stupid big trees, dad and I will have to do the schlepping.

  26. 26.

    superking

    It’s an interesting poll, but who cares? It’s not like they have an actual political party with staffers, resources, and money. They’re a bunch of yahoos whom we’re all laughing at and will forget in a few years.

  30. 30.

    Brian J

    I wouldn’t be surprised if the results are accurate, but only because (a) the polling sample isn’t representative of the public and/or (b) there isn’t a clear conception of what a Tea Party would be. Once it becomes obvious that it’s composed of those screaming on television, support for it will drop like a rock.

  33. 33.

    KG

    Generic polls are pretty much worthless. The people being polled get to project best possible candidate for their party, and worst possible candidate for the other parties. The only sensible answer one these is unsure, because we don’t vote for parties, we vote for people

  34. 34.

    Sentient Puddle

    Uh…if this is true in Texas, I’ll be very happy. Republican vote splitting is always cause for cheer.

  35. 35.

    PeakVT

    “growing up in Wasilla… I’ve never seen a gay guy in Wasilla, i don’t think.”

    Obviously he did; he just didn’t see one who admitted it. But, hey, the kid is making progress.

  36. 36.

    Notorious P.A.T.

    Could you guys maybe misspell random words in your posts? because I have no idea what you are trying to say.

  37. 37.

    Notorious P.A.T.

    @arguingwithsignposts:

    So this is time for some Bob the Angry Flower, right?

    You are so out of it. Mangling the language is how clever people show they are clever, these days. I mean, these dheys. Hehe. I’m hip )

  38. 38.

    Keith G

    First, this from « Rasmussen’s self promotional banner:

    « an organization with fast zeitgeist reflexes…. « The Politico

    WTF?

    Anyway, fun times in store in Texas. How will extreme teabaggerism affect the just commencing gubernatorial race? Will chai baggers cry havoc and cause enough disruption to allow Democrat Bill White (hopefully) to win?

  39. 39.

    asiangrrlMN

    In other words, enough crazy to split the vote, but not enough to outright win? I would take it, except I hate all the teabaggin’ shit in general and what it’s doing to the tenor of the debate in our politics.

  41. 41.

    Just Some Fuckhead

    Rasmussen, Huckabee, Palin and Aaron Rodgers can suck my big black cock.

    Palin first.
    Or Rodgers.
    mmhmm

  42. 42.

    Mike in NC

    How soon before the next snide remark from Sarah Palin’s twitter account?

    Tonight’s Maddow show noted that Palin’s dad said Dear Sarah spent a little time in college in Hawaii but left because she ‘felt uncomfortable being around so many Asians’. Apparently nobody informed her that Hawaii is located in the middle of the Pacific fucking Ocean and has been attracting immigrants from Asia for many decades. Also.

  43. 43.

    jibeaux

    Well, can we get a viable-but-not-actually viable third “Tea Party”, a la Ross Perot but with a little more staying power? Sounds to me like a recipe for permanent Democratic majority and just possibly a Republican party with half a brain cell, in respective order of likelihood.

  44. 44.

    The Republic of Stupidity

    The Tea Party candidate picks up 23%, and Republicans finish third at 18%.

    Well… at least it sounds like someone’s busy pounding a few more nails in the GOOP’s coffin…

  45. 45.

    Bubblegum Tate

    @Dave L:

    It’s an attitude—mostly resentment, I’d say—and no more.

    Exactly–the teabaggers are the official 2008 Election Protest Party. They subsist on little more than anger and paranoia.

    That said, while this poll is obvious bullshit, I think we should use it to encourage teabaggers everywhere. Anything to help along the purge of right-wing crazies, you know?

  47. 47.

    YankeeApologist

    Living in Texas, I’m not sure if this should terrify me or give me some kind of sick hope that we can get some kind of Democrat in office here.

    @lamh31 – yes, Rick Perry may be one of the most awful and frightening public servants in the history of mankind. However, he has GREAT hair.

  48. 48.

    cokane

    538 is a great site to check for further coverage of this issue. In fact, you should email it to him and ask him about it, Mr. Cole!

  49. 49.

    Martin

    Apparently nobody informed her that Hawaii is located in the middle of the Pacific fucking Ocean and has been attracting immigrants from Asia America for many decades. Also.

    Corrected.

  50. 50.

    DougL (frmrly: Conservatively Liberal)

    Rasmussen’s raison d’être in between elections is to push the overton window to the right. The way they make their money is telling wingers what they want to hear for 46 months, then they swing back in line for one month every two years so they don’t look like total idiots and retain some credibility. They are the echo chamber’s official polling place.

    I figured this out long ago but what is funny is that I could see this and yet I had no idea of the political inclinations of Scott Rasmussen. I just knew that they were deliberately skewing things between elections and veering back to reality when needed so they wouldn’t look like fools, and the things they were skewing were in favor of the right.

    I’m sure that I wasn’t the only one to see this without knowing more about Rasmussen. It’s pretty hard to miss.

  51. 51.

    Gravenstone

    @Just Some Fuckhead:

    Rasmussen, Huckabee, Palin and Aaron Rodgers can suck my big black cock.

    Dude, they warn you about those 4 hour boners for a reason. Now you let it go and get all gangenrous. When will you ever learn?

  52. 52.

    Ian

    @Brian J:

    Once it becomes obvious that it’s composed of those screaming on television, support for it will drop like a roc

    If not having any policy platform, serious ideas for America, or the willingness to actually govern disqualified you for office, then wouldn’t you think the same thing would have happened to the Republicans years ago?

  54. 54.

    aimai

    Now when I see lines like “this poll was a waste of time and money” I think “how do you know?” John’s point that Rasumussen basically makes a living faking its data ought to remind us that the other thing that we learned this year is that some pollsters have figured out that you don’t even have to collect the data, if you are going to fake it. You might just as well imagine the entire thing. Anyone know for sure that Rasmussen even bothers to conduct these tests?

    aimai

  55. 55.

    KCinDC

    And in related news:

    An astute Fixista flagged a fascinating interview that former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin gave to conservative talk radio host Lars Larson last Friday in which she appears to leave the door open to a third party bid for president in 2012. Asked by Larson whether she would consider running as a third party candidate, Palin said: “That depends on how things go in the next couple of years.” Larson told the 2008 vice presidential nominee that answer “sounds like a yes” to which she responded: “If the Republican party gets back to that [conservative] base, I think our party is going to be stronger and there’s not going to be a need for a third party, but I’ll play that by ear in these coming months, coming years.” Which, to the Fix’s delicate ears, sounds like Palin leaving the door wide open. As we have written before, Palin is not — and never will be — a candidate of the Republican establishment. Given that, and the unpredictability she demonstrated in her stunning decision to resign as governor over the summer, no potential avenue to the presidency should be ruled out.

  57. 57.

    carlos the dwarf

    @KCinDC:
    A three way race involving Sarah Palin=Axelrod and Plouffe’s wet dream. It also kills the Republican party. Palin will win most of the south and the big empty western states, Obama will win the Northeast, Midwest, and West Coast, and the Republicans win…pretty much nothing.

  58. 58.

    Rasputin Polls

    When it comes to Rasputin Polls I think I favor something just a TAD more reliable – like my magic eight ball or tea leaves.

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