The American Enterprise Institute makes the case that the IRS targeting and harassment of Tea Party groups swung the 2012 election in Democrats' favor. Researchers compared voter turnout in 2010 and 2012 using data from a variety of government and media sources and surmised that the neutralization of many Tea Party groups by the IRS in the 2012 election cycle led to a suppression of conservative voter turnout. According to the report, had the Tea Party groups' effect been similar in 2012 to that of the "shellacking" they dealt Obama and Democrats in the 2010 midterm elections, "they would have brought the Republican Party as many as 5 - 8.5 million votes compared to Obama's victory margin of 5 million."