News
Opinion
ENLARGE
INCLINE VILLAGE, Nev. — The Daily Kos is a liberal/progressive blog, and if that's enough to disqualify anything they say in your eyes, just skip reading this or skip to the comments section and post your weekly accusation that I'm a Communist and should “go back to Roosha, boy, or New York City, one” (a shout out to Kinky Friedman).
On the other hand, if you're interested, the Daily Kos employs a very reputable and neutral polling organization called Research 2000 to do polling for them on a weekly basis and posts their results no matter what they show, including demographic information about those polled. Last week they posted the results of the Daily Kos/Research 2000 Republican Poll 2010. For this poll, conducted between Jan. 20 and 31, 2010, they interviewed 2,003 self-identified Republicans by phone. This was a random sample selected by random variations of the last four digits of phone numbers. The margin of error was 2 percent, which means that there is a 95 percent probability statistically that the true figure for all self-identified Republicans would fall within 2 percent plus or minus of the sample's results. Interviews were conducted in all 50 states plus the District of Columbia — 11 percent of respondents were from the Northeast, 42 percent from the South, 22 percent from the Midwest and 25 percent from the West.
So here we have 2,003 people, selected at random who identified themselves as Republicans and were willing to answer poll questions over the phone. Now it's axiomatic in the polling business that you only get answers to the questions you asked, and I don't know who designed these questions — let's say, worst case, they were designed by the Daily Kos, and so the questions reflect liberal/progressive concerns about Republicans, and don't tell the whole story, only that which reflects those concerns. Nonetheless, the answers are what they are. It's a long poll, so I'll just highlight some of them here. For the full set go to http://tinyurl.com/kospoll.
Under the heading “Obama and America,” we find that 39 percent of those surveyed say Barack Obama should be impeached with 32 percent saying “no” and 29 percent not sure. Really? For what? The Constitution is pretty clear — high crimes and misdemeanors is the criterion. Can anyone point out even one thing he's done in the past year that qualifies? But 68 percent of Republicans (±2 percent) say he should be impeached, or at least it's a possibility.
Maybe this will shed some light on why: 63 percent said yes to “do you think Barack Obama is a Socialist, with 21 percent saying no and 16 percent not sure. Seriously? 79 percent of those surveyed don't have a clue what Socialism is? Even Rachel Maddow, who is no Socialist herself, but is pretty far left, considers Obama a centrist.
And the grand prizes: 36 percent believe Obama was not born in the US and 22 percent aren't sure, and 24 percent believe Obama “wants the terrorists to win” and 33 percent aren't sure. This is not just being divorced from reality, it's having left reality far, far behind.
There's a lot more — on issues (anti-union, anti-immigrant, pro-death penalty), gays, (anti-serving in the military, anti-same sex marriage, anti-benefits for gay couples, and astonishingly 73 percent against openly gay men and women teaching in public schools with 19 percent unsure). Schools (anti-sex education by a slim margin, but overwhelmingly for public schools teaching that the Book of Genesis explains how God created the world).
The last category was women, where some of the results were surprisingly encouraging — 76 percent with 11 percent unsure said that marriages are equal partnerships and 86 percent with 4 percent unsure said women should work outside the home. But then it all goes horribly wrong: “Should contraceptives be outlawed?” 31 percent yes, 13 percent not sure. “Do you believe the birth control pill is abortion?” 34 percent yes, 18 percent unsure. “Do you consider abortion to be murder?” 76 percent yes, 16 percent unsure.
And finally, “Do you believe that the only way for an individual to go to heaven is through Jesus Christ, or can one make it to heaven through another faith? 67 percent Christ, 15 percent other faiths, 18 percent unsure.
All of which leaves me wondering — exactly what America do these people live in? Not the America of Jefferson, Adams, Madison and the Constitution, apparently.
— Ed Gurowitz has a doctorate in psychology and is a management consultant. He has lived in Incline Village since 1995 and is active in the Democratic Party. His columns can be found at www.egurowitz.blogspot.com, and he is a regular contributor to the Huffington Post and tahoeticker.com. He can be reached for comment at egurowitz@gurowitz.com.
On the other hand, if you're interested, the Daily Kos employs a very reputable and neutral polling organization called Research 2000 to do polling for them on a weekly basis and posts their results no matter what they show, including demographic information about those polled. Last week they posted the results of the Daily Kos/Research 2000 Republican Poll 2010. For this poll, conducted between Jan. 20 and 31, 2010, they interviewed 2,003 self-identified Republicans by phone. This was a random sample selected by random variations of the last four digits of phone numbers. The margin of error was 2 percent, which means that there is a 95 percent probability statistically that the true figure for all self-identified Republicans would fall within 2 percent plus or minus of the sample's results. Interviews were conducted in all 50 states plus the District of Columbia — 11 percent of respondents were from the Northeast, 42 percent from the South, 22 percent from the Midwest and 25 percent from the West.
So here we have 2,003 people, selected at random who identified themselves as Republicans and were willing to answer poll questions over the phone. Now it's axiomatic in the polling business that you only get answers to the questions you asked, and I don't know who designed these questions — let's say, worst case, they were designed by the Daily Kos, and so the questions reflect liberal/progressive concerns about Republicans, and don't tell the whole story, only that which reflects those concerns. Nonetheless, the answers are what they are. It's a long poll, so I'll just highlight some of them here. For the full set go to http://tinyurl.com/kospoll.
Under the heading “Obama and America,” we find that 39 percent of those surveyed say Barack Obama should be impeached with 32 percent saying “no” and 29 percent not sure. Really? For what? The Constitution is pretty clear — high crimes and misdemeanors is the criterion. Can anyone point out even one thing he's done in the past year that qualifies? But 68 percent of Republicans (±2 percent) say he should be impeached, or at least it's a possibility.
Maybe this will shed some light on why: 63 percent said yes to “do you think Barack Obama is a Socialist, with 21 percent saying no and 16 percent not sure. Seriously? 79 percent of those surveyed don't have a clue what Socialism is? Even Rachel Maddow, who is no Socialist herself, but is pretty far left, considers Obama a centrist.
And the grand prizes: 36 percent believe Obama was not born in the US and 22 percent aren't sure, and 24 percent believe Obama “wants the terrorists to win” and 33 percent aren't sure. This is not just being divorced from reality, it's having left reality far, far behind.
There's a lot more — on issues (anti-union, anti-immigrant, pro-death penalty), gays, (anti-serving in the military, anti-same sex marriage, anti-benefits for gay couples, and astonishingly 73 percent against openly gay men and women teaching in public schools with 19 percent unsure). Schools (anti-sex education by a slim margin, but overwhelmingly for public schools teaching that the Book of Genesis explains how God created the world).
The last category was women, where some of the results were surprisingly encouraging — 76 percent with 11 percent unsure said that marriages are equal partnerships and 86 percent with 4 percent unsure said women should work outside the home. But then it all goes horribly wrong: “Should contraceptives be outlawed?” 31 percent yes, 13 percent not sure. “Do you believe the birth control pill is abortion?” 34 percent yes, 18 percent unsure. “Do you consider abortion to be murder?” 76 percent yes, 16 percent unsure.
And finally, “Do you believe that the only way for an individual to go to heaven is through Jesus Christ, or can one make it to heaven through another faith? 67 percent Christ, 15 percent other faiths, 18 percent unsure.
All of which leaves me wondering — exactly what America do these people live in? Not the America of Jefferson, Adams, Madison and the Constitution, apparently.
— Ed Gurowitz has a doctorate in psychology and is a management consultant. He has lived in Incline Village since 1995 and is active in the Democratic Party. His columns can be found at www.egurowitz.blogspot.com, and he is a regular contributor to the Huffington Post and tahoeticker.com. He can be reached for comment at egurowitz@gurowitz.com.
