This is not an issue of the chicken or the egg. According to a new Gallup poll, “Tea Party Supporters Overlap Republican Base.” The release notes:

There is significant overlap between Americans who identify as supporters of the Tea Party movement and those who identify as conservative Republicans. Their similar ideological makeup and views suggest that the Tea Party movement is more a rebranding of core Republicanism than a new or distinct entity on the American political scene.

In a word, duh.

Then again, if your primary source of news is Fox News or conservative talk radio I can imagine why this may be shocking to you. For more than a year you've been told that the tea party movement is some sort of new phenomena sparked by anger at the policies of Democrats in Washington.

Of course, previous polls have made clear that the tea party looks very similar to the GOP base so this isn't really new news.

It should however put the mainstream press on notice when it covers the tea party. Tea partiers aren't really any different than the GOP base so it isn't really all that newsy when they disagree with Democrats in Congress or President Obama.