Thanks rhema.
"More poorly informed"?
Posted on 05/05/2012 5:18:58 PM PDT by rhema
We've got a vivid picture of the Republicans and conservatives in our midst. They're a sour, dour lot -- close-minded, tight-fisted and intolerant. Some are businesspeople, greedy and self-interested. Others are rednecks, poorly informed, clinging to their guns and religion.
If only these folks understood political issues better and cared more about their fellow man, they'd be liberals, right?
Think again. A growing body of research is shattering this conventional wisdom.
Survey data make clear that Republicans, on average, are better informed than Democrats about political issues. Data from the American National Election Study has confirmed this over the years, and an April 2012 Pew Research Center survey -- "What the Public Knows about the Political Parties" -- is the latest to document it.
On eight of the survey's 13 questions about politics, Republicans outperformed Democrats by an average of 18 percentage points. "Republicans fare substantially better than Democrats on several questions in the survey, as is typically the case in surveys about political knowledge," according to the study.
The widest gap -- 30 points -- came on a question about which political party is "generally more supportive of reducing the size of federal government." Seventy-six percent of Republicans, but only 46 percent of Democrats, correctly named the GOP.
Republicans even know more about Democratic leaders: 75 percent of Republicans identified Nancy Pelosi as a Democrat, vs. 59 percent of Democrats. And while 73 percent of Republicans knew Franklin Roosevelt was a Democrat, only 58 percent of Democrats did.
But surely liberals, widely praised for tolerance, are more open-minded than conservatives toward people with different views? Whoops.
A March 2012 Pew report, entitled "Social Networking Sites and Politics," found that 28 percent of liberals have "blocked, unfriended or hidden someone" on social-networking sites because of their political postings, compared with
(Excerpt) Read more at startribune.com ...
Bump
Maybe I am wrong.....
Least they'd be dead by the time he figured it out and that's all that counts.
I could be wrong as well. I have the disc, I’ll check.
My favorite is when they call me Hitler. The other day I was in a discussion with a high school classmate on Facebook. She had posted a picture of Barack Obama with a quote attributed to him where he said something to the effect of “You can’t deny women their basic rights and call it religious freedom.”
I replied and said, “Oh, birth control pills are now a basic right? Really?” I followed it up with another comment saying, “Nobody’s talking about denying women the opportunity to purchase birth control pills. The argument is over whether their faith based employers have to pay for them. Just because you claim that there’s a war on women doesn’t make it so, the matter how much it will help Barack Obama.”
One of her friends, who I did not know, piped in at that point with “You remind me of Hitler.”
I normally don’t get into name calling. However, in this case, I felt that it would be best to fight fire with fire. So, I replied, “Mike Sager, you are a pathetic piece of dog excrement.”
He had the nerve, at that point, to reply to me that I was denigrating him because I couldn’t win the argument. LOL
From that point forward, every time that he replied to me, trying to tell me how I really was like Hitler, I replied back with his new name, “Mike Sager, pathetic piece of dog excrement, with more drivel about Hitler,” or something like that. He dropped out of the conversation after 4 or 5 replies.
The entire conversation was 85 comments in total, with questions raised about both birth control and the male female wage gap. I completely destroyed the arguments of the liberals. All my Freeper friends would have been proud.
She has now deleted the entire thread.
Gleaned from: http://peacebyjesus.witnesstoday.org/RevealingStatistics.htm
94 percent of political conservatives, and 94 percent of Americans who regularly attend religious worship services believe there is such a thing as sin, versus only 77 percent of political liberals and 80 percent among those who do not attend services. ^Ellison Research, March 11, 2008
Only 19 percent of political conservatives were likely to be unchurched versus 47 percent political liberals. (http://pewforum.org/newassets/images/reports/multiplefaiths/multiplefaiths.pdf)
59% of Americans polled said religion is very important in their lives (75% in 1952). By categories: 52% of men, 66% of women, Whites 66%, Blacks 82%, Hispanics 66%. 68% percent of self-identified conservatives, 56% of moderates, and 49 percent of liberals said religion was very important to them. - Gallup survey 1999.Copyright ©2004 The Gallup Organization; http://www.mfc.org/contents/article.asp?id=139 See also Steve Crabtree, “Black Churches: Has Their Role Changed?” Gallup Tuesday Briefing; Religion & Values, May 14, 2002
Political conservatives were almost three times as likely as political liberals to identify God as their most important relationship (33% vs. 12%, respectively). Barna, 2008 http://www.barna.org/barna-update/article/13-culture/44-americans-identify-their-most-important-relationships
n 2009, 57% of Americans opposed homosexual marriage [which is contrary to the word of God, and seldom monogamous], versus 40% in favor of doing so. (75% self-identified liberals versus 19% of conservatives; and 59% of 18-29 year olds, versus 32% of those 65 years and older) May 7-10 2009 USA Today/Gallup poll; http://www.gallup.com/poll/118378/Majority-Americans-Continue-Oppose-Gay-Marriage.aspx
Beliefs reincarnation, yoga, the existence of spiritual energy in physical things and astrology are more common among Democrats and independents than Republicans, and are more widely held by liberals and moderates than conservatives, especially as concerns belief in yoga as a spiritual practice, with 39% of liberals expressing this belief (39%), in contrast to only 15% of conservatives. Conservatives and Republicans also report fewer experiences than liberals or Democrats communicating with the dead, seeing ghosts and consulting fortunetellers or psychics. (http://pewforum.org/newassets/images/reports/multiplefaiths/multiplefaiths.pdf
Some 71 percent of [those classified as] conservatives say you have an obligation to care for a seriously injured spouse or parent versus less than half (46 percent) of liberals. Peter Schweizer, “Makers and Takers,” Doubleday, June 3, 2008. http://www.ncpa.org/sub/dpd/index.php?Article_ID=16895
Liberals are two times more likely to say it is okay to cheat the government out of welfare money you don’t deserve. Peter Schweizer, “Makers and Takers,” Doubleday, June 3, 2008. http://www.ncpa.org/sub/dpd/index.php?Article_ID=16895
Liberals are approx. twice as likely than conservatives to have received treatment for a mental health problem at some point in their lives. Based on data from GSS 1972-2008 Cumulative Datafile http://sda.berkeley.edu/cgi-bin/hsda?harcsda+gss08; http://anepigone.blogspot.com/2011/11/conservatives-are-mentally-healthier.html
Among 5 groups, American atheists and agnostics were the segment most likely to describe themselves as being politically liberal (32%) and were the group least likely to describe themselves as being conservative (4%) http://www.barna.org/barna-update/article/5-barna-update/66-american-faith-is-diverse-as-shown-among-five-faith-based-segments?tmpl=component&print=1&layout=default&page=
61% of Americans have a positive image of capitalism, and of 95% of small business, versus 36% seeing socialism positively, while 33% have a negative image of capitalism, and 58% of socialism. 53% of Democrats have a positive image of socialism, compared to 17% of Republicans. 61% of liberals say their image of socialism is positive, compared to 39% of moderates and 20% of conservatives. http://www.gallup.com/poll/125645/socialism-viewed-positively-americans.aspx February 4, 2010
The population of Massachusetts ranks as the most liberal, with Boston and Cambridge being the most liberal large cities (100,000 or more), followed by California. http://www.epodunk.com/top10/liberal/index.html
Those who identify themselves as being conservative on social and political matters lower divorce rates (28%) than those liberal on social and political matters (37%). http://www.barna.org/family-kids-articles/42-new-marriage-and-divorce-statistics-released
30% of Roman Catholic priests described themselves as Liberal, 28% as Conservative, and 37% as Moderate in their Religious ideology. - Los Angeles Times (extensive) nationwide survey (2002). Arthur Jones, 2002 National Catholic Reporter. Gale Group. http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m1141/is_2_39/ai_94129129/pg_2
A poll of conservative and progressive religious activists showed 48 percent of conservatives activists believe the Bible to be the literal word of God, versus only 3 percent of “progressives”, otherwise known as liberals. This contrast was also seen in other issues, with 95 percent of conservatives opposing legalization of abortion, and 82 percent opposing both same-sex marriage and civil unions, while 80 percent of liberals support some form of legal abortions (54 percent in most cases), with 59 percent support same-sex marriage. The study also found that Evangelical Protestants composed 54 percent of conservatives, Roman Catholics 35 percent, and mainline Protestants 9 percent, while liberal activists were made up of 44 percent mainline Protestants, 17 percent Roman Catholics, 10 percent Evangelical Protestants, and interfaith bodies and groups (12 percent). 2009 Religious Activist Surveys conducted by the Bliss Institute of Applied Politics at the University of Akron in partnership with Public Religion Research. http://www.christianpost.com/article/20090916/u-s-religious-activists-have-widely-divergent-views/index.html
A (disputed) study showed that 50% of American college faculty identified themselves as Democrats and only 11% as Republicans (with 33% being Independent, and 5% identifying themselves with another party). 72% described themselves as “to the left of center,” including 18% who were strongly left. Only 15% described themselves as right of center, including only 3% who were “strongly right.” North American Academic Study Survey (NAASS) of students, faculty and administrators at colleges and universities in the United States and Canada 1999. The Berkeley Electronic Press http://montages.blogspot.com/2005/04/conservatives-underrepresented-in.html http://www.bepress.com/forum/vol3/iss1/art2 http://www.associatedcontent.com/article/17963/liberal_bias_in_our_schools.html
Extensive surveys by the Intercollegiate Studies Institute, conducted in 2006 and 2007 of 14,000 college freshmen and seniors at fifty colleges nationwide, indicated that college education results in little advance in knowledge of American history and institutions, which is already poor among non-college graduates, but an often significant increase in favoring liberal ideology was seen over those who were not college graduates. In addition, those with the highest degrees were the most liberal. Intercollegiate Studies Institute, ‘’The Shaping of the American Mind.’ http://www.americancivicliteracy.org/2010/major_findings_finding1.html
Analysis of Federal Election Commission data regarding the 2010 midterm elections showed that college professors and administrators donated heavily and overwhelmingly is support of Democrats over Republicans. This included 77 percent of total donations from employees of Harvard university and 86 percent of all donations from employees of University of California’s network of colleges going to Democrats, with pro abortion Sen. Barbara Boxer being the top recipient of academic donations, while no donations from Princeton went to a Republican. Analysis of Federal Election Commission conducted by the Center for Responsive Politics, reported by Capitol News Company, 9/22/10
Of 100 colleges and universities graded on their general education requirements by the American Council of Trustees and Alumni (ACTA), 42 institutions received a D or F for requiring two or fewer core subjects, while 25 of them received an F for requiring one or no subjects. Only 5 institutions received an A for requiring six general education subjects. Average tuition and fees at the 11 schools that require no subjects was $37,700; average tuition at the five schools that require six subjects is $5,400. Walter E. Williams , professor of economics at George Mason University. http://townhall.com/columnists/WalterEWilliams/2009/08/26/what_will_they_learn http://whatwilltheylearn.com/criteria
In a 1996 poll of 1,037 reporters at 61 newspapers, 61 percent identified themselves as Democrats, 15 percent as Republicans. The respondents also identified themselves as liberals 4 times more frequently than as conservatives. American Society of Newspaper editors 1996 survey of 1,037 reporters at 61 newspapers of all sizes nationwide. http://archive.frontpagemag.com/readArticle.aspx?ARTID=32928
n a 2001 Kaiser Family Foundation poll, media professionals were nearly 7 times likelier to call themselves Democrats rather than Republicans, with the ratio of self-identified liberals to conservatives being 4.2 to 1. Kaiser Family Foundation 1996 poll of 301 “media professionals,” 300 “policymakers,” and 1,206 members of the general public.
In a 2007 Pew Research Center study of journalists and news executives, the ratio was 4 liberals for each conservative. Pew Research Center’s 2007 survey of 222 journalists and news executives at national outlets.
All told, White House correspondents during the late ’80s and early ’90s voted for Democrats at 7 times the rate at which they voted for Republicans. U.S. News & World Report writer Kenneth Walsh’s 1995 study of 28 White House correspondents. 1996 Freedom Forum survey of 139 Washington bureau chiefs and congressional correspondents
On the subject of welfare and related issues, liberal experts were quoted in the news 75 percent of the time, conservatives 22 percent. On consumer issues, the liberal-conservative ratio was 63 percent to 22 percent. On environmental issues, the ratio was 79 percent to 18 percent. And regarding nuclear energy, the ratio was 77 percent to 20 percent. Robert Lichter, Stanley Rothman, and Linda Lichter, The Media Elite: America’s New Power Brokers (New York: Hastings House, 1990).
In 2011, 38% of voters believed that when most reporters write or talk about Pres. Obama, they are trying to help him pass his agenda (down from 48% a year ago). 26% feel that most reporters are politically biased, 46% think the average reporter is more liberal than they are, while 26% say they are merely interested in reporting the news in an unbiased manner. http://www.rasmussenreports.com/public_content/politics/current_events/media/61_are_still_angry_at_the_media
Since the liberalization of immigration policy in 1965, the number of first-generation immigrants living in the United States has quadrupled, from 9.6 million in 1970 to about 38 million in 2007. “Immigration Worldwide: Policies, Practices, and Trends”. Uma A. Segal, Doreen Elliott, Nazneen S. Mayadas (2010). Oxford University Press.
You are correct. It HAS been a while since I watched it. Wow.
Just watching it again to make sure, the sheer stupidity of some of these people.
My fate is tied in to how they vote. Scary.
Great post - thanks rhema.
The MSM is the most dangerous entity in the United States of America.
My take too... Katherine Kersten’s one brave woman to submit this to a liberal newspaper.
Among liberals, members of the press are the most closed minded... doesn’t bode well for her career.
I sincerely believe the Democrat party should be outlawed, the same as if it were a particularly nasty disease that infects the brain and causes a type of political dementia.
"Do you think our nation is going in the right direction or the wrong direction?"
I replied,
"Well, since we have an illegal alien, Muslim, communist, traitorous usurper squatting in the White Hut and doing his best to destroy our Nation -- I'd say we're headed in the wrong direction."
Somewhere along about, "White Hut", I heard her gasp. And when I said, "Next question..."
She hung up on me!
For five minutes, I could harcly stop laughing! ROFLOL!!!
Heh, yeah, I got blocked by a niece, I guess because I offended her with an opinion during the campaign for the Personhood Initiative in MS. I couldn't vote, because I don't live there, but I disagreed with one of the arguments she and her friends were making against it, and voiced that on her Facebook page. I think I pi$$ed off a bunch of her friends, so she apparently dumped me because I don't see her posts anymore.
I guess her friends didn't like being challenged, though they sure love getting into everyone else's faces.
Only a ‘surprise” to the uninformed. You can also bet that, without checking a single fact or source, the average Democrat will pooh-pooh it as a baseless attack because “that’s what us eeevull Republicans (Conservatives) do”. Looking in the mirror doesn’t work for the purposefully blind.
I don't think I have ever heard anyone say it right, then. Of course, I live in the South. And I am conservative.
You don’t hear “dour” used much in conversation. (”He’s so dour!” “LOL.”) Usually it turns up in literary contexts. It comes from the same roots as “durable” and “endure” and carries the same meaning, to be hard or tough, but in a bad connotation.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.
