House Speaker Nancy Pelosi believes the tea party movement shares a common enemy with Democrats -- the entrenched special interests that feed money into the political system.
"We share some of the views of the tea partiers in terms of the role of special interest in Washington, D.C.," Pelosi said in a taped interview airing Sunday on ABC's "This Week." "It just has to stop. And that's why I've fought the special interest, whether it's on energy, whether it's on health insurance, whether it's on pharmaceuticals and the rest."
And Pelosi still believes Washington Republicans are trying to quietly influence the tea party movement through well-funded, fake grassroots organizations, referred to as "astroturf."
"The Republican Party directs a lot of what the tea party does, but not everybody in the tea party takes direction from the Republican Party," Pelosi said. "So there was a lot of, shall we say, Astroturf, as opposed to grassroots."
"Some of it is orchestrated from the Republican headquarters," she continued. "Some of it is hijacking the good intentions who share some of our concerns we have."
Congressional Favorability Ratings Reid's Favorables Up Slightly
Friday, January 15, 2010 Email to a Friend ShareThis.Advertisement In a rare bit of good news for Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, it seems the more people who know about him, the more there are who like him.
The latest Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey finds that 31% of voters now view the Nevada senator at least somewhat favorably, an eight-point jump from December and his highest favorability rating over the past year. That figures includes just five percent, though, with a very favorable opinion.
But 51% of voters nationwide have an unfavorable opinion of Reid, although that's down from 54% last month. Of that group, 36% share a very unfavorable opinion of him, up just one point from December but still the highest result found over the past year.
More voters know about Reid this month since only 18% didn't venture even a soft favorable or unfavorable opinion of the longtime Democratic senator. Just one month ago, 23% had no opinion of Reid, and last March, that figure stood at 30%.
Fifty-two percent (52%) of Democratic voters view Reid favorably, compared to 17% of Republicans and 22%of voters not affiliated with either party.
Reid’s national ratings apparently didn't suffer following recent news reports of controversial remarks he made about Barack Obama during the 2008 campaign, but support in Nevada for his reelection bid has fallen even further. New polling finds him earning just 36% of the vote against his two top Republican challengers.
(Want a free daily e-mail update? If it's in the news, it's in our polls). Rasmussen Reports updates are also available on Twitter or Facebook.
Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi remains the most well-known and least-liked congressional leader, but her numbers have improved this month as well.
Just 35% of voters nationwide share a favorable opinion of Pelosi, though that is the highest level measured since last May. Fifty-seven percent (57%) view Pelosi unfavorably, down from 63% in December. Pelosi’s ratings have remained remarkably stable after August, when the percentage of voters who viewed her unfavorably reached a high of 64%. Since Congress returned in February, Pelosi’s favorable ratings have ranged from 30% to 36% while her unfavorable ratings ranged from 55% to 64%.
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