Sen. Kaufman: Palin backers 'don't follow what's really happening' in U.S.

Voters expressing outrage at the federal government might not be the most politically aware, Sen. Ted Kaufman (D-Del.) suggested Monday .

Kaufman, in an apparent shot at the so-called Tea Party movement, asserted that the group of angry conservatives may not understand the complexity of many problems facing the U.S.

"There are folks that are out there that are very, very upset at what's going on," Kaufman said during an appearance on Fox 29 in Philadelphia. "I think most of them don't follow what's really happening, but they're upset, they're mad as hell and not going to take it anymore, and Sarah Palin's one that appeals to them."

Palin, the 2008 Republican vice presidential candidate and a former Republican governor of Alaska, spoke on Saturday night at the first Tea Party convention in Nashville. In that speech, Palin took shots at President Barack Obama and Democratic leaders in Congress, stressing the need to elect a "conservative majority" in Congress this fall.

"Frankly, most Americans I talk to are really concerned with real problems and real issues and understand them and realize they're a lot more complex than sometimes Sarah makes them out to be," Kaufman said when asked about Palin's speech.

The Delaware Democrat, who's serving out an appointment to the Senate that's set to expire next January, laughed off the prospects of a presidential bid for Palin, and, while acknowledging the strength of her political voice, ultimately dismissed her readiness for higher office.

"You can get a small niche market, and you can be very, very, very powerful in that small niche market," he said. "But it's very difficult moving from that small niche market to actually being president."

Watch a video of the interview below:

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