Grand Old Party–Emphasis on “Old”

Balloon Juice did a great piece on the demographics of the TEA Party healthcare protesters, and what that means moving forward in the foreseeable political future. Money quote:

Did you see a lot of town hall screamers who are under 30? Any who aren’t white? Any who look like they have post-graduate degrees? Any who make over 200K a year (even Rick Santelli hasn’t been talking about death panels)?

Of course not. The teabaggers are old, white, uneducated, and not particularly well-off. In short, they’re part of a demographic where Republicans are already maxed out. The presence of unions and the fact that Republican policies are not economically advantageous to lower and middle-income voters put a ceiling on how much of this demographic Republicans will ever capture. And they’re pretty close to that ceiling right now.

New numbers from a Research 2000 poll show the trendlines in approval polls. Basic breakdown is that both Dems and Republicans are not viewed favorably, but the Congressional Democrats have a nearly 60-point edge on their Republican colleagues. When you can’t get anyone new, and the people you have are starting to leave… that’s the beginnings of a death knell.