Favorable views of the tea party are on the rise in the wake of the Internal Revenue Service scandal, in which the agency targeted conservative groups applying for nonprofit tax exempt service, according to a new poll.
The latest survey by
Rasmussen Reports found that 44 percent of likely voters have a favorable opinion of the tea party, up 14 percentage points from January.
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It is still down, however, from a high of 51 percent in April 2009, when the movement first rose up to protest President Barack Obama's spending policies.
The same figure, — 44 percent of likely voters — also said they view the tea party unfavorably, but that is five percentage points lower than earlier this year.
The latest findings show 18 percent of likely voters have a very favorable opinion of the tea party and 25 percent have a very unfavorable view of the movement. Thirteen percent said they were undecided.
The telephone survey of 1,000 likely voters was conducted on Tuesday and Wednesday and has a margin of error of three percentage points.