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In the five years since tea party came along, the Republican Party has spent a good amount of time fighting with itself. The Democratic Party, well ... has not. As much as somewould love to project the GOP's infighting on to the Democratic presidential primary in 2016,it just isn't happening right now.

Want to know why that is? Well, the below graphic from the Pew Research Center explains it better than just about anything we've seen to date. On four issues -- abortion, illegal immigration, government spending and gay marriage -- there are more Republicans who say their party doesn't do a good job than say it does.

The gap is particularly largeon the latter three issues (at least 19 points on each). But even on abortion -- an issue on which the party is basically united -- the unhappiness is evident.

On the flip side is the Democratic Party. On all four of the very sameissues, more Democrats approve of their party than disapprove. And on gay marriage and abortion, they are overwhelmingly happy -- with the "good jobs" outnumbering the "not a good jobs" more than two-to-one.

For the GOP, the good job/bad job split averages a negative 37.5-53.5. For Democrats, it's basically the inverse, 55-36 positive.

These are not all of the important issues, of course. But they cut a good-sized swath of economic and social issues, along with immigration. And the universality of the GOP's unhappiness with itself is no illusion.

Update 12:19 p.m.: Some have asked whether the GOP unrest is coming more from the right or the middle. Pew just released more data suggesting it's both equally. More than half of both moderate/liberal Republicans (55 percent) and conservative Republicans (52 percent) disapprove of the GOP on gay marriage, and the same is true on immigration (both at 56 percent) and spending (both about 60 percent). On abortion, conservatives are slightly less unhappy(43 percent) than moderates/liberals (51 percent).

Polls have been showing this for a long time. Just a couple weeks back, a Washington Post-ABC News poll showed just 34 percent of Republicans approved of their congressional contingent. Among Democrats, it was 63 percent. The difference basically accounts for the difference in the two parties' overall approval ratings.

It also accounts for why the GOP sees its incumbents ceding so much of the vote -- though not really losing this year -- in their primary campaigns. And also, why the GOP presidential primary in 2016 will be so unpredictable.

Aaron Blake covers national politics and writes regularly for The Fix.

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The Fix: Why the GOP loves to eat its own and Democrats dont

Tea Party Tantrum
Aklama.

By: Dora Pike

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Tea Party Tantrum - Video

Improv - Garden Tea Party (2014Sep15)
XperDunn plays Piano September 15th, 2014 Improv - Garden Tea Party.

By: xperdunn

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Improv - Garden Tea Party (2014Sep15) - Video

PEORIA - Ever wonder what it was like to have a 20th century British tea party?

Well, the Peoria Historical Society gave people that chance Sunday.

It hosted a grand victorian tea party at the Pettengill-Morron Historical House.

This is their sixth such tea party this Summer.

The society served tea and light hors d'oeuvres.

It wanted to make it as realistic as possible and give guests a fun way to learn a little about British history.

Lisa Bisbee, a Docent at the tea party, said, "It's a way to engage people with all of their senses. They see the beautiful rooms. They see the beautiful presentation. They smell the tea. They taste the tea."

And if you'd like to stop by, the Pettengill-Morron House is open to the public for tours every first Sunday of the month.

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History Buffs Enjoy British Tea Party

April 19, 2010 A Sensitive Case Report on the targeted tea party groups is shared with Lerner. This is the first time a top IRS official is given details about the spike in tea party applications.

June and July 2011 Lerner is briefed that employees are using search terms such as tea party, patriots, 9/12 Project, government spending, government debt, taxes and make America a better place to live to flag applications. Lerner, after learning about the search terms, tells the Cincinnati office to revise its guidelines for flagging applications. The guidance is expanded to include organizations involved with political, lobbying, or advocacy for exemption under 501(c)(3) or 501(c)(4).

Also in June, Lerners hard drive crashes, erasing two years worth of emails investigators deem vital to their probes.

(GRAPHIC: IRS scandal timeline)

December 2011 House Ways and Means Oversight Subcommittee staffers meet with Lerner, but she doesnt mention the targeting program.

January 2012 Cincinnati employees change their search terms again without telling management. This time, the search terms arent as specific as tea party and 9/12, but they still focus on political positions such as limiting/expanding government and social economic reform/movement. Upon discovering the change, Lerner institutes new rules requiring all changes to the search term criteria be approved by management.

March 2012 Republican House Oversight Committee Chairman Darrell Issa expresses concern to the IRS inspector general that tea party groups are being unfairly targeted by the agency. Doug Shulman, IRS commissioner when the targeting program got underway, vehemently denies to lawmakers in March 2012 that the agency was targeting conservative groups. He is briefed two months later but never follows up with lawmakers.

June and July 2012 Issa officially requests that the inspector general audit the IRS to see how employees are processing applications for nonprofit groups. IRS Inspector General J. Russell George writes a letter to Issa confirming an audit is underway.

(Also on POLITICO: Exclusive: Lois Lerner breaks silence)

November 2012 Shulman leaves his post atop the IRS due to term limits. Steve Miller becomes acting IRS commissioner.

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Timeline of IRS scandal