More graphics time.
While much was made of the Gallup survey that showed the teabaggers are demographically representative of the US, other surveys -
http://depts.washington.edu/uwiser/racepolitics.html - show how outside the mainstream the attitudes are of those who strongly support the tea party.
The survey cited above asked white respondents about their attitudes toward the tea party movement, non-whites, immigrants and gays, and compared those who strongly approve the teabaggers with those who strongly disapprove.
The difference is between "represent my views" (Gallup) and this "strongly approve".
Many with libertarian attitudes toward things find that the Tea Party folks represent their views in many ways -- but given some of the signs and slogans, they do not "strongly approve".
Contrary to an opinion stated above, there is a strong libertarian streak in the Tea Party. They're hardly all Bush fans, or even Reagan fans. But there's also a strong reactionary streak, people who want the "good old days" back -- and in their version, the good old days had blacks out of sight (and mind), immigrants were white like them, Republicans actually balanced budgets, only the "proper" people went to college, sex wasn't talked about in public (and homosexuality never), swimsuits covered a substantial portion of the body, etc.
The reactionary element is a phenomenon seen in history every time there's significant social change. Really there's nothing that can be done about it; some people just want the world to be static -- change is outside their comfort zone, except what takes place over generations. In such a world, if DADT would be repealed this year, ENDA would come to pass in about 2025, and DOMA repealed in 2040 -- and that would seem almost too fast for comfort. But many of the Tea Party reactionaries still haven't adjusted to a world with Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. in it -- expecting them to feel comfortable in a world where there's even a black on the Supreme Court, even if he's a (neo-)conservative, is beyond their ability to stretch.
The two elements come together because they both oppose the current administration. But they're uneasy bedmates -- and that's part of what's happening with the difference between "represent my views" and "strongly support". And it explains why positive views of the Tea Party movement are decreasing: the reactionaries, including the boneheaded bigots like the 'birthers', are just too hard to resist as photo and interview material, and not many really want to be associated with that.
