By Layne D. Hansen: I am a recent recipient of a Master’s degree in political science from Idaho State University.  I begin my doctoral studies at the University of Nevada Reno in the fall.

The Tea Party is much less visible now than it was during its heyday in 2009 and 2010, but the idea that it is dead is a complete misnomer.  What critics don’t realize, or don’t want to acknowledge, is that Tea Party ideas and beliefs have been baked into the political cake, so to speak.  With people like Ted Cruz, Rand Paul, and Michele Bachmann in Congress, the Tea Party is alive and is making its presence felt in American politics.

Still, the criticisms of the movement persist.  Tea Partiers are still called racists, despite the fact that some of the movement’s most beloved figures are racial minorities (Cruz, Marco Rubio, Allen West, Tim Scott); sexist, despite the fact that two of the most popular figures are female (Sarah Palin and Bachmann); xenophobic, homophobic, and crazy.

To refute these unfounded charges, for my Master’s thesis at Idaho State University, I statistically tested these claims using data from the American National Election Studies Evaluation of Government and Society Study.[i]  Not only do the numbers not validate these claims against the Tea Party, in many cases, Tea Party members grade higher in many variables than Republicans, Democrats, or Occupiers.

Not to get too deep into the statistics — not only can they be confusing, they can also be boring — when compared to Republicans, Tea Party members rate Blacks, Hispanics and Muslims higher and the difference between they and Democrats and Occupiers is negligent.

This is according to a statistic called Cohen’s d, which measures the difference between groups.  Below .2 is miniscule; between .2 and .5 is small; between .5 and .8 is moderate; only figures above .8 can be considered large.  The only comparison that reached .8 was comparing Tea Party members to Occupiers in their views on Muslims.  Granted, Islamism is not a race, but most Americans don’t differentiate.  Tea Party antipathy lies in the fact that they recognize radical Islam as our greatest enemy.

To measure the claim that Tea Partiers are crazy, I used the Big Five Personality Index, which has become a standard in psychology.  The traits measured are extravert, neuroticism, conscientiousness, agreeableness, and openness.  The only comparison where Tea Party members rate lower than another group is in comparing Tea Partiers to Occupiers in openness, yet that is miniscule (.02).

The point is, when using personality, Tea Party members are no different than anyone else, although there has been an attempt to paint the Tea Party as radical (although I don’t recall ever seeing a Tea Partier crapping on a police car or hearing about rapes and drug use at Tea Party rallies).

Next was the measurement of sexism.  Respondents were asked if they thought that women were discriminated against, whether women claim sexism to gain special favors, whether they think that complaints about harassment cause more problems, and whether a person would vote for a female political candidate or not.

Again, the only significant difference in any variable between any groups was comparing the averages of Tea Partiers and Occupiers in voting for female candidates; Occupiers scored .76 higher according to Cohen’s d.

Measuring homophobia was difficult because the variables weren’t very good, but I settled on whether respondents think that homosexuals are discriminated against and whether a person would vote for a gay candidate for office.  Differences between Tea Partiers and Republicans were tiny; between Tea Partiers and Democrats were small; between Tea Partiers and Occupiers was large when asking about voting for candidates.

There are other explanations for these differences: Tea Partiers are much more religious than Occupiers and base these decisions on their religious beliefs.  Also, homosexuality in general is much more accepted by the Occupy types and it is a pet issue for them.  But common sense wins out on this one: let’s say the choice is between a gay conservative and a straight liberal.  Who is the Tea Partier going to vote for?  Maybe some would stay at home in protest, but if there were a gay Reaganite and a straight Obamaite, I’d fly the rainbow flag on Election Day and vote gay (but conservative).

Like with homophobia, the variables for measuring xenophobia weren’t very good.  The question asked was whether the respondent agreed with current policies regarding illegal immigrants.  This question is relative, but it was the best available. The second question asked how respondents felt about immigration in general.  This is also somewhat relative.

That said, Tea Partiers rated higher than either Republicans or Democrats in both questions.  Tea Partiers have a strong difference with Occupiers on the first question (.76 lower).  Views on immigration in general were basically the same (.06).

Again, the numbers can be dense and confusing, but the results are clear: the Tea Party is not what its critics say it is. Any intellectually honest person can go to a Tea Party rally and see that it is made up of normal people who are frightened at what their “leaders” are trying to do to their country—both Democrats and Republicans.

By Layne D. Hansen: I am a recent recipient of a Master’s degree in political science from Idaho State University.  I begin my doctoral studies at the University of Nevada Reno in the fall.

The Numbers Don’t Lie, But Tea Party Haters Do

Via The Examiner:

Chief Executive magazine releases its ninth annual survey of CEO’s opinions about the best and worst states for business – and Republicans are governing in all of the top 10.

 

“In the minds of most leaders, a state’s friendliness is closely aligned with its tax and regulatory regime. Similarly, workforce quality also measures the perceived cooperativeness of workers with management, as well as the people’s general work ethic and education attainment,” the report write-up states.

 

California is ranked at 50, the worst state for business in America.

Top 10 states for business all led by Republican governors

Via Newsweek’s Michael Moynihan:

Video: Pro-North Korea protesters in the U.S.

ABC: Former New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson joined ABC News for a web interview after his appearance on the “This Week” roundtable on Sunday, answering viewer questions about his time as governor, his experience meeting with the Taliban, and his thoughts on Korean ruler Kim Jong-Un. When asked about Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, Richardson expressed his distaste for the senator.

“I’m not a fan. I know [Ted Cruz is] sort of the Republican latest flavor. He’s articulate. He seems to be charismatic, but I don’t like his politics. I think he introduces a measure of incivility in the political process. Insulting people is not the way to go. But I guess he’s a force in the Republican political system, but I’m not a fan.”

ABC News: Do you think he represents most Hispanics with his politics?

“No, no. He’s anti-immigration. Almost every Hispanic in the country wants to see immigration reform. No, I don’t think he should be defined as a Hispanic. He’s a politician from Texas. A conservative state. And I respect Texas’ choice. But what I don’t like is… when you try to get things done, it’s okay to be strong and state your views, your ideology. But I’ve seen him demean the office, be rude to other senators, not be part of, I think, the civility that is really needed in Washington.”

Video – Bill Richardson: Cruz Not Really Hispanic

Via LifeNews, the latest undercover video in Live Action’s  late-term abortion campaign. This via Hotair:

When asked how the clinic disposes of the baby after the abortion, the doctor says:

“So the fetus and everything that goes along with it — the placenta, all of that — is sent to a crema… what do they call it? Like, a funeral home.  And they’re cremated, and then the ashes spread out in the desert, or you know, the foothills or [inauduble] … like one of the hills they take them to and spread the ashes into nature[.]“

That sounds like what families do when loved ones pass away.  Do clinics do this with the products of liposuction?  Discarded appendixes?  Removed gallbladders?  Doubtful.  The clinic and this abortionist seem to understand that they’re discarding a whole person, and not just a clump of cells.

Which is why this is even more incomprehensible:

Sometimes they are [alive], yeah. But it doesn’t–it doesn’t necessarily mean that it will come out whole. ‘Cause they use suction, plus they use instruments so sometimes the fetuses don’t come out–you know, it’s not complete…

Investigator: But if it does come out whole…I mean, are–will they resuscitate it? Like, will I have to take care of it?

Linda: Uh-uh… No…They do not resuscitate.

And as in earlier videos, the abortionist warns her patient about going to a hospital if she goes into labor:

No, call us first…if you showed up in an average emergency room with an emergency room physician who’s not a gynecologist, probably has never seen or done a termination, they will treat you as though you are somebody with a desired pregnancy…

Investigator: So they would basically like try to take care of it.

Dr. Mercer: Right they would intervene and do all kinds of crazy things that you don’t need to have done to you…

Shocking Video: “We will not resuscitate” a born-alive baby after abortion

H/T Hotair

Video: “We’ve forgotten what abortion really is”

A large majority of Americans support the death penalty for the suspect in the Boston Marathon bombing should he be convicted in federal court, according to a new Washington Post-ABC News poll.

Overall, 70 percent of those surveyed say they support the death penalty for 19-year-old Dzhokhar Tsarnaev.

Poll: 70 percent want death penalty for Tsarnaev

According to NRO’s Robert Costa it’s plausible:

“If you don’t think this is real, then you’re not paying attention,” says a Republican insider. “Cruz already has grassroots on his side, and in this climate, that’s all he may need.”

 

“There’s not a lot of hesitation there,” adds a Cruz donor who has known the Texan for decades. “He’s fearless.”…

 

Cruz’s allies whisper that the 42-year-old attorney, who holds degrees from Harvard Law and Princeton, doesn’t take the groundswell of enthusiasm lightly. Besides talking with conservative grandees, he has called his peers in the legal community and raised the prospect.

 

“We all see a path, and he does, too,” says a former Cruz colleague. “This isn’t someone who needs to be told the obvious. He didn’t run for the Senate to get cozy, so no one who knows him is surprised that he’s at least looking at it.”

 

H/T Hotair

President Ted Cruz?

Prager University: Did FDR End or Extend the Depression?

Video: People That Don’t Know Who Rubio Is Protest Against Rubio on Immigration