A new poll indicates that most voters, by a 48 percent to 44 percent margin, believe the tea party's views are closer to their own than President Obama's are.

The question that Rasmussen Reports posed to 1,000 likely voters: "When you think about the major issues facing the country, whose views are closest to your own, President Barack Obama or the average tea party member?"

Forty-eight percent answered that the average tea party member's views were closer. Forty-four percent selected President Obama, and 8 percent weren't sure.

Despite weeks of media reports portraying the tea parties as extremists, among all-important independent voters the pro-tea party sentiment was even stronger.

Fifty percent of those not affiliated with a party favored the tea parties, compared to 38 percent who say President Obama's thinking more closely reflects their own.