Daily Kos polling continues to humiliate the Republican Base and the southern region of our country. This week, the polling reveals that 58% of Republicans either don’t believe the president was born in the United States or are unsure. This compares to 7% of Democrats and 17% of Independents. Also revealed, Republicans do not know or believe in basic geology. Asked if they believe that America and Africa were once part of the same continent (they were) 76% of Republicans said ‘no’ or ‘not sure.’
The relationship between ignorance, Republicanism, and the South comes through in shining clarity in this polling. Whereas, all other regions of the country have at least a plurality who understand plate tectonics, only 24% of Republicans and 32% of Southerners do. While 93% of Democrats and 83% of Independents affirm that Obama was born in this country, only 42% of Republicans agree. But look at these numbers (combined percentage who do not believe or are not sure that Obama was born here, by region): Northeast 7%, Midwest 10%, West 17%, South 53%.
How does that happen? It’s actually a minority position in the South to affirm that the president was born in the United States. It’s even more of a minority position in the Republican Party. Aside from the startling demonstration of regional wingnuttery, I have to note that it would never occur to anyone on their own that the elected president of the United States might be ineligible for the job. These numbers represent the degree of penetration of the conspiracy theory as well as, probably, a regional difference in relative gullibility. It’s natural that an area of the country that is less supportive of the president would be more inclined to believe bad things about him, and that definitely accounts for some of the discrepancy. But it can’t account for the yawning gap between the South and rest of the country. The question about continental drift demonstrates that clearly.
