Independents Sour on Tea Party

The Hill reports:

Twenty-two percent of respondents "agree" with the Tea Party, while 29 percent said they "disagree," a new Pew survey found.

A new poll from the Pew Research Center shows that as the visibility of the Tea Party movement has increased over the past year, so has its negatives.

The survey found that currently just 22 percent of respondents "agree" with the Tea Party, while 29 percent said they "disagree." Another 49 percent said they either had no opinion or hadn't heard of the Tea Party.

The numbers mark a turnaround from November, when Tea Party activists helped Republicans net 63 congressional seats and retake control of the House. Last fall, 27 percent of those polled said they agreed with the Tea Party's views, compared to just 22 percent who said they disagreed.

Tea Party activists are playing a central role in the current budget standoff in Washington, pushing the House GOP leadership and its newly elected freshman members to stand firm on their pledge to cut at least $61 billion in spending.

Congressional leaders and the White House are still working to reach a budget agreement and avert a government shutdown Friday.