Charles Blow referred to a Quinnipiac poll in a recent column that he says shows that the Tea Party movement is “not the future”. He quotes the poll in saying the movement is “less educated … than the average Joe and Jane Six-Pack.” I’m not sure who Joe and Jane are, but based on the last question in the poll, the membership is just as educated as the Democrats (both less educated than Republicans) while those who are favorable to the Tea Party are more educated than Democrats.

But the real problem with the Quinnipiac article announcing the poll results is the opening line: Only 13 percent of American voters say they are part of the Tea Party movement.

“Only” thirteen percent? Thirteen percent is not a small group. This is a poll of registered voters, who in 2008 numbered just over 231 million. That means there are 30 million members, based on this data. By comparison the ever-important MoveOn organization has 5 million.  When was the last time it was implied that they were irrelevant because they had so few members?

Sounds like someone’s trying to move the target.