A new Gallup poll shows
that support for the tea party continues to fall among Republicans, with four
in 10 saying they support the Tea Party, while 11% are opponents and 48% are neutral.
This continues to be a significant drop from the Tea Party’s high-water mark in
November 2010, when 61% of Republicans were supporters of the Tea Party.

According to Gallup, the number of tea party supporters
among Republicans and independents who lean Republican has dropped by a third
since November 2010, and opposition to the Tea Party in the general population
has returned to its all-time high — suggesting that the tea party will have
less potential to affect elections this year than was the case in the last
midterm election in 2010.

“Tea party support, more than anything else, appears to
substantially correlate with the more straightforward characteristics of being
a core, conservative Republican. Thus, these trends may suggest that the GOP is
on a more moderate track in general,” the folks at Gallup said.

“Clearly Mitt Romney’s presidential nomination in 2012
was evidence of waning tea party support, and currently the Tea Party cannot
even claim majority support of the GOP base, further hindering its influence to
remake the party in its own image.”

The results from several state primary elections on Tuesday were
generally viewed as a disappointment for the tea party. But Gallup notes that
the tea party types have one advantage over establishment Republicans and
Democrats, especially in midterm elections:

“… Whatever else happens, tea party supporters will
continue to be a presence in American politics because of their apparent
motivation and interest in election outcomes, factors that, more than likely,
will translate into support for candidates, and higher Election Day turnout.”

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