New GOP Poll: Troubling Beliefs of Republicans

[BenVitale]

Scary New GOP Poll


How reliable is this poll?

It reads:

•57% of Republicans (32% overall) believe that Obama is a Muslim
•45% of Republicans (25% overall) agree with the Birthers in their belief that Obama was "not born in the United States and so is not eligible to be president"
•38% of Republicans (20% overall) say that Obama is "doing many of the things that Hitler did"
•Scariest of all, 24% of Republicans (14% overall) say that Obama "may be the Antichrist."

A sign of trouble yet to come!?

Isn't it a recipe for a disaster?
I realize that there's anger brewing against Obama ... but political assassination!?

 

[turbo]

Depending on who you ask and how you ask, you can get about any poll results you want. If you ask college graduates if Obama is a US citizen or if he is a Muslim, those numbers would plummet, even among Republicans.

 

[MotoH]

The poll was looking for a specific answer, and it got it. Where is the option for "Obama is a US citizen etc. etc."

It's like Ford asking people how much they hate GM.

 

[turbo]

The poll was looking for a specific answer, and it got it. Where is the option for "Obama is a US citizen etc. etc."

It's like Ford asking people how much they hate GM.

From the article:

The poll, which surveyed 2,230 people right at the height of the health-care reform debate, also clearly shows that education is a barrier to extremism. Respondents without a college education are vastly more likely to believe such claims, while Americans with college degrees or better are less easily duped. It's a reminder of what the 19th-century educator Horace Mann once too-loftily said: "Ignorance breeds monsters to fill up the vacancies of the soul that are unoccupied by the verities of knowledge."

 

[CRGreathouse]

Are the complete poll results somewhere? I'm wary of reading the summary.

 

[Borek]

I wonder if that poll and its results are not part of promotional campaign for the books mentioned. But I can be wrong.

 

[turbo]

Are the complete poll results somewhere? I'm wary of reading the summary.

Complete results to be released tomorrow (3/24)

 

[Galteeth]

Hitler and Obama are both chronic oxygen consumers. Not to mention they both utilize adenosine triphosphate in an earily similar way.

 

[mgb_phys]

Hitler and Obama are both chronic oxygen consumers. Not to mention they both utilize adenosine triphosphate in an earily similar way.

And you never see pictures of them in the same room ...

 

[Borek]

And you never see pictures of them in the same room ...

Actually, I have here a picture of Hitler and a picture of Obama, so you are wrong.

 

[Vanadium 50]

The poll was commissioned in support of selling a book, Wingnuts. It is not a "GOP Poll", despite what the author of Wingnuts is saying - it was conducted by Harris. The way Harris did their poll is with an internet web site, and they use their own private methodology to correct the responses for the large sampling biases of an online survey.

It's entirely possible that "57% of Republicans" really is "1% of Republicans", but weighted to appear to be 57%. One cannot tell; Harris is understandably very cagey about this.

Interestingly, 6% of Democrats believe he may be the Antichrist. That's about the size of the fraction of Democrats who voted against health care.

 

[mgb_phys]

So the survey said that of the random people that clicked random answers for fun on a website - 57% also clicked the I am a republican box?

 

[Gokul43201]

It's entirely possible that "57% of Republicans" really is "1% of Republicans", but weighted to appear to be 57%. One cannot tell; Harris is understandably very cagey about this.

Harris is a fairly reputed polling organization (or am I mistaken?). I highly doubt that a 57% result is just as likely to be a 1% result. That said, I've seen more than a few polls conducted around election time reporting that roughly 20% of Republicans believed Obama was a Muslim¹ (as opposed to 57% in the present Harris Poll).

Anyone got a link to the actual polling data from Harris? I couldn't find it in their database at harrisinteractive.com

1. See, for example: http://pewresearch.org/pubs/1176/obama-muslim-opinion-not-changed

 

[WhoWee]

Scary New GOP Poll


How reliable is this poll?

It reads:


Isn't it a recipe for a disaster?
I realize that there's anger brewing against Obama ... but political assassination!?

Weren't there equally biased polls against Bush?

 

[mgb_phys]

Weren't there equally biased polls against Bush?

I don't think anyone believed Bush was the anti-christ.
Although you could picture him riding a little red tricycle in the Whitehouse.

 

[Char. Limit]

The worst part about this is that those figures actually seem believeable to me after just one hour of Fox Republican News...

Yeah, there's going to be an assassination attempt against Obama. After all, if they'd assassinate Chester Arthur or John Kennedy, someone will try to assassinate Obama.

 

[russ_watters]

Here's the poll: http://news.harrisinteractive.com/p...sp?BzID=1963&ResLibraryID=37050&Category=1777

From the statement on methodology:

Respondents for this survey were selected from among those who have agreed to participate in Harris Interactive surveys. The data have been weighted to reflect the composition of the adult population. Because the sample is based on those who agreed to participate in the Harris Interactive panel, no estimates of theoretical sampling error can be calculated.

In other words, they can offer no estimate of how accurately this reflects the views of the country.

A few notes:
-For an "online poll", this isn't as bad as some people seem to think. This isn't an open poll where people can stuff the ballot box by telling all their friends to vote (see: Colbert exercise bike on the space station).
-Some of the questions are reasonable, some silly. I'd be interested to know how people react to silly questions: do they give silly answers? Though I generally participate in polls because I want my opinion counted, I might give a silly answer to a silly question or blow-off/sabbotage a pollster who I think has an adgenda I don't like.
-Some of the questions are broadly worded, perhaps deliberately, to inflate the quantity of "yes" votes (as some here have commented-on with the Hitler question).

 

[Borek]

http://edition.cnn.com/2010/POLITICS/03/25/congress.threats/index.html

(I have posted it yesterday, just before server went down, obviously some posts were lost)

 

[turbo]

Eric Cantor claimed to be a victim of such violence, but police investigated and determined that a bullet-hole in a window of his un-marked office space was the result of random gun-fire. Still, our valiant "press" in its quest for even-handedness (as opposed to truth) included that in stories about violence and threats against Democrats. The sad truth is that radicals in the GOP are encouraging attacks on supporters of health-care reform. Sarah Palin released an relatively uninformative map targeting Democrats, using graphics of rifle-sights. Boehner said "Take Steve Driehaus, for example," he says. "He may be a dead man. He can’t go home to the west side of Cincinnati." The jerks issue "clarifications" explaining that they don't mean to incite violence, though that's not the message that the crazies take home.

 

[WhoWee]

Eric Cantor claimed to be a victim of such violence, but police investigated and determined that a bullet-hole in a window of his un-marked office space was the result of random gun-fire. Still, our valiant "press" in its quest for even-handedness (as opposed to truth) included that in stories about violence and threats against Democrats. The sad truth is that radicals in the GOP are encouraging attacks on supporters of health-care reform. Sarah Palin released an relatively uninformative map targeting Democrats, using graphics of rifle-sights. Boehner said "Take Steve Driehaus, for example," he says. "He may be a dead man. He can’t go home to the west side of Cincinnati." The jerks issue "clarifications" explaining that they don't mean to incite violence, though that's not the message that the crazies take home.

I realize it's been a long time, but I seem to recall some threats made toward Bush. I also seem to recall a movie that depicted an attack on him - did anyone find that troubling?

 

[Galteeth]

I realize it's been a long time, but I seem to recall some threats made toward Bush. I also seem to recall a movie that depicted an attack on him - did anyone find that troubling?

The movie? No, not really. It was a drama about an asasination attempt. Violence and its consequences is a common theme of movies.

 

[Galteeth]

Eric Cantor claimed to be a victim of such violence, but police investigated and determined that a bullet-hole in a window of his un-marked office space was the result of random gun-fire. Still, our valiant "press" in its quest for even-handedness (as opposed to truth) included that in stories about violence and threats against Democrats. The sad truth is that radicals in the GOP are encouraging attacks on supporters of health-care reform. Sarah Palin released an relatively uninformative map targeting Democrats, using graphics of rifle-sights. Boehner said "Take Steve Driehaus, for example," he says. "He may be a dead man. He can’t go home to the west side of Cincinnati." The jerks issue "clarifications" explaining that they don't mean to incite violence, though that's not the message that the crazies take home.

I think inciting violence is bad. The whole media coverage of this had me laughing though. It seems everyone, including the congressmen themselves, are completely oblivious to the fact that their entire line of work revolves around the perpetuation of violence.
It is amzing to me how people can compartmentalize the same behaviors into different moral realms based on an assigned class. People who write rules that will be enforced with violence are just doing their jobs; people who might threaten these people with violence for doing such are crazies.
Note I don't approve of any violence whatsoever, be it that of these activists or that of the Federal government.

 

[Jack21222]

I realize it's been a long time, but I seem to recall some threats made toward Bush. I also seem to recall a movie that depicted an attack on him - did anyone find that troubling?

At least threats against Bush were in proportion to what he was doing. Bush started a war which killed hundreds of thousands of people. Bush ordered the torture of prisoners.

Obama made changes in the way health insurance companies are allowed to operate.

There's a chasm of difference between the two things being protested. Bush was quite literally killing people. Obama reformed health insurance.

 

[WhoWee]

At least threats against Bush were in proportion to what he was doing. Bush started a war which killed hundreds of thousands of people. Bush ordered the torture of prisoners.

Obama made changes in the way health insurance companies are allowed to operate.

There's a chasm of difference between the two things being protested. Bush was quite literally killing people. Obama reformed health insurance.

LOL - I suppose you think Bush was part of the 911 "conspiracy"? Bush deserved threats and Obama is just doing what he believes is best for us? Grow up.

 

[turbo]

Let's get some perspective, folks. Sitting presidents get death-threats all the time, and Bush was no different. Anybody that doesn't think Obama isn't getting WAY more than any white president in recent memory is living in La-La land. I do not envy his security details one little bit.

What we have now is bitter and disillusioned right-wingers targeting individual Congressional members for supporting health-care reform. Having lived through the worst of the civil rights movement, the Viet Nam war and domestic protests, etc, I've seen a lot of animosity directed at elected officials, but none with this disproportionate threat level. The GOP has to distance itself from the crazies and the right-wing media that spurs them on or they will be crushed in the upcoming elections. They will carry only the radicals and the moderates and the independents will either stay home or vote for Democrats.

 

[MotoH]

Both parties have ultra-radicals, its just the GOP has ultra-radicals who carry guns.

Both sides have had their radical followers shown at one time or another, and it is the GOPs turn to have the crazies shown to light.


Bush killed hundreds of thousands? Puh lease. Jack, you are so far off on this one. The wars in Iraq and Afg. are just, and are fighting for the citizens of those countries to be human. Have you seen the videos of the Iraqi citizens voting? They walked there through mortar fire and suicide bombers, all to get the chance to vote at least once in their lifetime. If that isn't a job well done I don't know what is. A terrorists life is worth 1/100th of an Americans life.

 

[zomgwtf]

Bush killed hundreds of thousands? Puh lease. Jack, you are so far off on this one. The wars in Iraq and Afg. are just, and are fighting for the citizens of those countries to be human. Have you seen the videos of the Iraqi citizens voting? They walked there through mortar fire and suicide bombers, all to get the chance to vote at least once in their lifetime. If that isn't a job well done I don't know what is. A terrorists life is worth 1/100th of an Americans life.

While I do agree that Americans had every right to go to whatever war they wanted to I have to say I'm disappointed by these comments.

Firstly, they were always human. America is not fighting for any person to be human, they may be fighting to give the citizens what they consider should be fundamental to all humans but that's an American belief, not a world-wide one. It definitely doesn't make anti-Americans, anti-Democracy anti-Bush etc. people non-human until they have the wrath of the American military forces at their doorstep spoon-feeding 'humanism' to them.

I don't see why it matters that the Iraqi citizens had to walk through motar fire and dodging suicide bombers, in relation to the discussion at hand at least.

A terrorist life is worth 1/100th of an Americans life... righttt... This isn't true at all either do you also believe that Africans lives are worth less relative to your all knowing American life? Just as I believe that Americans have the right to fight for their beliefs and values etc. I do believe that the 'terrorist' have a right to fight. Please don't tell me that it's different because they are killing innocent people or the like. It's not hard to find situations where Americans have killed innocents, mutilated people, raped people, tortured people.

Not that any of this has any thing to do in particular with this thread.

 

[zomgwtf]

LOL - I suppose you think Bush was part of the 911 "conspiracy"? Bush deserved threats and Obama is just doing what he believes is best for us? Grow up.

I think you are delibrately trying to skew what Jack is attempting to say. Sure Obama deserves threats, all the presidents 'deserve' them I guess. However the level of threats he receives is DISPROPORTIONATE.

Your smirk remark about 9/11 conspiracy, which I'm pretty sure is a banned topic in PF anyways, doesn't repond to anything Jack's post is getting across. Maybe you should take your own advice and grow up?

 

[MotoH]

Okay yup, the Taliban are just freedom fighters trying to bring freedom to their homeland. They are so noble in their cause it makes the US crusaders look like dogs.

All the Taliban wants is the right for their people to live free without persecution and to not face the chance of beheading because you disagree with the leaders decisions.

You are right zomg, the Taliban are just in their cause and we should just let them run Afghanistan they way that they know best.

 

[zomgwtf]

Okay yup, the Taliban are just freedom fighters trying to bring freedom to their homeland. They are so noble in their cause it makes the US crusaders look like dogs.

All the Taliban wants is the right for their people to live free without persecution and to not face the chance of beheading because you disagree with the leaders decisions.

You are right zomg, the Taliban are just in their cause and we should just let them run Afghanistan they way that they know best.

Your sarcasm does nothing to prove the point that the terrorist which seem synonomous with Taliban in your case are worth less, much less, than an American life.

All I can see is that you disagree with their goals and their values/views on life (in Afghanistan, which isn't Iraq). Why should anyone care about American values so much as to degrade other people to 'sub-human'?

 

[WhoWee]

Let's get some perspective, folks. Sitting presidents get death-threats all the time, and Bush was no different. Anybody that doesn't think Obama isn't getting WAY more than any white president in recent memory is living in La-La land. I do not envy his security details one little bit.

What we have now is bitter and disillusioned right-wingers targeting individual Congressional members for supporting health-care reform. Having lived through the worst of the civil rights movement, the Viet Nam war and domestic protests, etc, I've seen a lot of animosity directed at elected officials, but none with this disproportionate threat level. The GOP has to distance itself from the crazies and the right-wing media that spurs them on or they will be crushed in the upcoming elections. They will carry only the radicals and the moderates and the independents will either stay home or vote for Democrats.

Here we go - "La la land" it is - please support your claim.

 

[turbo]

Here we go - "La la land" it is - please support your claim.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/northamerica/usa/barackobama/5967942/Barack-Obama-faces-30-death-threats-a-day-stretching-US-Secret-Service.html
http://www.boston.com/news/nation/w...ce_under_strain_as_leaders_face_more_threats/
http://tpmlivewire.talkingpointsmemo.com/2009/10/new-report-find-secret-service-overwhelmed-by-increased-threats.php

 

[zomgwtf]

Here we go - "La la land" it is - please support your claim.

I think before you feel the need to attack peoples thoughts in a more or less ad hominem way you should look for suppot for your own claims.

 

[Jack21222]

Okay yup, the Taliban are just freedom fighters trying to bring freedom to their homeland. They are so noble in their cause it makes the US crusaders look like dogs.

All the Taliban wants is the right for their people to live free without persecution and to not face the chance of beheading because you disagree with the leaders decisions.

I'm sorry, you believe the Taliban is operating in Iraq? You think Al Qaeda was operating in Iraq? I can't help you.

My comment about Bush killing hundreds of thousands was referencing the Iraq war. Iraq was one of the most Westernized middle eastern countries. Women had rights! Now, after we destroyed their infrastructure, killed thousands of civilians, and toppled their government, the fringe radical Muslims have taken over, and now women have limited rights, enforced by roving militias.

Read Riverbend's blog for a first-hand account. http://riverbendblog.blogspot.com/ Start from the beginning.

Yes, people went nuts protesting the Iraq war. That's because it was a war. People went nuts protesting Vietnam, too. These things make sense.

But to completely flip out over an insurance reform bill? Something is off there. For the record, I don't like this health care reform bill. I think insurance companies are the ones that got us into this mess, and to force every American to give them money doesn't sit right with me. But you don't see me flipping out over it. It's just one minor piece of bad legislation on top of a veritable mountain of bad legislation already in existence.

I'm not trying to derail the thread with Iraq war talk. But I seriously hope you people understand the difference between invading a country and reforming health insurance. Those aren't in the same ballpark. Hell, they're even not in the same time zone.

 

[MotoH]

I'm sorry, you believe the Taliban is operating in Iraq? You think Al Qaeda was operating in Iraq? I can't help you.

This statement just made your entire post wrong. Ever hear of the Canal Hotel Bombing? Yeah that was Al Qaeda. Even a simple google search would have shown who we were fighting in Iraq (the Taliban and AQ along with numerous other terrorist organizations).

Wow, just wow.