A new national Louis Harris poll finds that a majority of Republicans believe that President Obama is a Muslim, while 45 percent agree with the so-called "Birthers" that the president was "not born in the United States."
The poll of 2,230 Americans, taken during last weekend's health care showdown in the House of Representatives, shows how successful Obama's opponents have been in demonizing the 44th president.
Full results are expected tomorrow, but preliminary findings were released in The Daily Beast by John Avlon, whose book "Wingnuts" details the hyper-partisanship that has swept America since 2008.
According to the poll, 57 percent of Republicans, and 32 percent of Americans overall, believe that Barack Obama is a Muslim. The opinion comes despite Obama's description in his bestseller, "The Audacity of Hope", of his adoption of the Christian faith.
The poll found that 45 percent of Republicans, and 25 percent in the overall survey, agree with Birthers that Obama was "not born in the United States and so is not eligible to be president."Even Fox News pundits, notably Bill O'Reilly, have dismissed the Birthers' claims. The state of Hawaii produced Obama's birth certificate during the 2008 campaign.
Another eye-opening finding: 38 percent of Republicans, and 20 percent of Americans overall, agree that Obama is "doing many things Hitler did."
And 24 percent of Republicans, and 14 percent overall, agree that Obama "may be the antiChrist."
The poll found that voters lacking a college education are much more likely to agree with more extreme myths and rumors about the 44th president.
In a more conventional opinion - echoing charges from some House Republicans during the health care reform debate - 67 percent of Republicans believe Obama is a socialist, an opinion held by 40 percent of those surveyed.
1 comment:
Re: "a majority of Republicans believe that President Obama is a Muslim."
Actually, it is only that they SAY they believe it. We do not know what they actually believe.
The reason for the distinction is that increasingly there is an attitude of "what the hell" and a freedom not to tell the truth in answering polls.
Say you asked the question: "how much is two and two" on a poll, and found that 10% gave some figure other than four. This would not necessarily show that 10% of the people could not add. It might show that 10% feel that it is dull to answer four, and that some other figure might be interesting.
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