Nearly Three-in-Ten California Voters Identify With Tea Party Movement

From today's Field Poll, "NEARLY THREE IN TEN CALIFORNIA VOTERS IDENTIFY STRONGLY OR SOME-WHAT WITH THE TEA PARTY MOVEMENT. ONE IN THREE VOTERS ALSO NOT CONVINCED THAT OBAMA WAS BORN IN U.S.":

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Greater than six in ten California voters (61%) report having heard of the tea party protest movement. This includes 12% who say they identify with it a lot and 16% who have some identification with it.

Registered Republicans and strong conservatives report greater awareness of the movement and are significantly more likely to say they identify with it a lot. While majorities of Democrats, non-partisans, liberals and political moderates are aware of the movement, very few of these voters identify with it a lot or somewhat.

The poll also queried respondents on President Obama's qualifications for office, i.e., "Was Obama born in the U.S.?":

In this survey The Field Poll asked California voters their opinions on this matter. The results show that two-thirds of voters here (67%) say they believe that Obama was born in the U.S. However, 11% think that he was not and another 22% say they aren’t sure.

There is a wide variance in voter beliefs about Obama’s birthplace by party and political ideology. In addition, voter opinions are also correlated with whether or not a voter identifies with the tea party movement.

Eighty-five percent of Democrats, but just 42% of Republicans, maintain that Obama was born in the U.S. There is also a wide divergence of opinion between liberals, 96% of whom believe Obama was born in America, and conservatives, of whom fewer than half feel this way (45%).

Just 29% of the voters who say they identify a lot with the tea party movement believe that Obama is a U.S.-born citizen.