Poll: Teabaggers think Gays too powerful

I seem to have missed something. When the Tea Party movement started a couple of years ago, it was out of frustration over high taxes, record-breaking government spending and anger at Washington's inability to get things done. Since the beginning the Fox "News" network has fanned the flames of discontent into an irrational wildfire of homophobia and racism, qualifying their actions by claiming over and over that "Americans are angry!"

A new University of Washington poll shows just how irrational and off message the Teabaggers have become since their unfocused, leaderless movement took off. The Huffington Post reports:

According to the survey, 74% of Tea Party supporters say they agree with the following statement: "While equal opportunity for blacks and minorities to succeed is important, it's not really the government's job to guarantee it."

Fifty-two percent of respondents also said that "compared to the size of their group, lesbians and gays have too much political power."

The latest data on the Tea Party reveals that the anger coming from the movement isn't unilaterally directed at government spending -- one of the group's core issues.

According to University of Washington professor Matt Barreto, who directed the poll, the Tea Party's frustration with Washington "is going hand in hand with a frustration and opposition to racial and ethnic minorities and gays and lesbians."

Other noteworthy findings from the University of Washington poll include:

    * 88% of Tea Party supporters approve of the controversial immigration law recently enacted in Arizona.

    * Only 18% of those surveyed say gay and lesbian couples should have the legal right to marry.

    * 73% of Tea Party backers disapprove of President Obama's policy of engaging with Muslim countries.

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