We’re not sure what to make of this Daily Kos Research poll of Republicans — commissioned by the liberal site, but, um, executed by whom? and conducted by Research 2000 — that says 73 percent of the 2,003 Republicans polled don’t want gays teaching in schools; 77 percent claiming they don’t want gays to be able to marry; 31 percent want birth control banned; 77 percent want Creationism taught as the truth in schools; and 39 percent want Obama impeached.
We find it hard to believe some of those numbers coming from self-identified Republicans (they were interviewed by phone), but this polling data is, not surprisingly, beneficial to the liberals that gather around sites like Daily Kos. What you have here is “concrete evidence” that Republicans are out to destroy Americans. And gay families and livelihoods.
It’s a pretty damning count, particularly with Daily Kos Research saying the margin of error is just +/- 2 percentage points. When we make arguments about how gay marriage is “inevitable,” how more Americans are becoming accepting of gays, how the repeal of DADT is garnering more and more support … it’s data like these that warrant a step backward, so we can consider, Who are these terrible people answering their phones?
Liberals screen.
How about we take this to the next level?
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Sam
Nice headline. Is proofreading really so hard?
GimmeABreak
Not surprising. Who else is stupid enough to listen to folks like Peter LaBoobhead, the FRC, Focus on the Family, American Family Association, et. al?
AlwaysGay
Yes, I can blame you. Gay people so desperately want to believe heterosexuals don’t hate us that they would deny history and their own experiences. The status quo for gay people is being subservient, docile and perpetually disadvantaged. So it is no wonder heterosexuals are more in favor of gay people in the military than the classroom because being a teacher means leadership while being a soldier means subservience. Plus, heterosexuals don’t care if we get killed.
Luke
This is scary.
ggreen
Your GOProud roots are showing Queerty. When have you lazy homos ever commissioned a scientific poll? DKOS PAID Research 2000 a NON-PARTISAN polling outfit to ask 2000 nationwide self-identified Republicans about their lizard brain ideas.
Michael W.
The poll was conducted by Research 2000, a very reputable polling firm without any biases and proven results over the years. DailyKos only paid for the rights to the information. Get your facts straight, Queerty.
Calling it a “DailyKos poll” is a classic rightie manuever to invalidate the results rather than having to digest them. Kos happens to be one of the very few organizations that actually polls these questions to get a deeper understanding of how these nuts think.
romeo
I seriously question this survey. I would like to know how respondents were chosen. You can selectively choose respondents to skew results. In this case, to make Democrats more attractive to discontented gays, perhaps? These results to not jibe with other polls at all, either regarding Republican sentiments or most certainly the country as a whole.
I’m usually more than happy to be an alarmist, but I call bullshit on this one. But that doesn’t mean I think we should vote Republican! LOL
CHIP1218
Ummm, Daily Kos refers to it as a “Daily Kos/Research 2000 Poll” so check your facts before you bash Queerty.
Sam
This is not surprising. The number of people who self-identify as Republicans is at an historical low. Huge numbers of (more moderate) people who used to call themselves “Republicans” started calling themselves “Independents” during Bush’s second term, when they realized just how extreme his agenda was. That’s left only the real knuckle-draggers in the GOP.
Michael W.
@romeo: You question the survey, why? Because it’s too hard for you to swallow?
Based on previous polls I’ve seen, including anything involving Obama like presidental approval, it’s my estimation that 70% of what’s left of the Republican party are whackjobs and only 30% are reasonable.
Notice I said what’s left of the Republican party, because many of the more moderate factions of voters have abandoned it and become Independents. Many others switched to Democrat over the past couple years. It’s the hardest of the hardcore righties who refused to budge and they’re the ones who comprise the pool of those polled.
What’s so surprising about the numbers? Republicans feel homosexuality is a disease that can spread with influence, so why would they want gays teaching their children when they’re at their most vulnerable to those influences? Why would they want gays to marry when they feel anything that further degrades “the family” is the biggest threat to America? There’s no bigger degradation than allowing two men to marry and maybe raise children, destroying the sanctity of marriage. Why wouldn’t they want creationism taught in schools when they feel it’s the only truth and Darwinism is poisoning the minds of children?
And then the numbers are far lower for the more egregious questions like the banning of birth control and impeachment of Obama (who many of them think wasn’t born in this country). So what’s so hard to believe about these numbers?
romeo
@ MichaelW: Other recent polls, even among Republicans, do not support the extreme results of this poll. But I don’t dispute that the “old” Republican Party isn’t what it used to be and that many former “moderate” Republicans now consider themselves independent, so they would not have been respondents in this survey.
But I would loathe to see us being manipulated by desperate Democrats. Our situation is too serious for that. We’re smarter than the average. We need to be realistic in our appraisal of our circumstances in order to make effective choices as to how to move forward. How much good does it do us to align ourselves blindly to the Democratic Party if it does nothing for us? All we have had, and still have, is talk from them. Even with majorities, they’re like deer in the headlights, terrified that a relatively small minority of loudmouth wingnuts might yell at them. Fuck polls. The Democrats were elected to lead. Let’s see them do it.
Michael W.
@romeo: Other recent polls like what? Who besides Research 2000, at the behest of Kos, even asks such specific questions of Republicans (and not Americans in general)?
I’m not sure what the results have to do with the Democratic party. Is it your belief that Markos Moulitsas commissioned the poll to make us snuggle closer to the Dems? I think most of the members at DailyKos are as frustrated with the Democrats’ lethargy in enacting a progressive agenda as we are. It’s not only a matter of gay rights where they’ve fallen down on the job, mind you, but health care, the economy, and many other areas where progressives are dissatisfied with the Democratic leadership.
Regardless, it’s important to know thine enemy and for all our gripes about Obama, Pelosi and Reid, the poll results show that we’d be shit out of luck without them. Unless we bring an end to the two party system and get a party that’s to the left of the Dems, we sure as hell won’t get anywhere by turning to the Republicans who despise us and think we’ve played a large role in advancing America’s downfall.
Josh
I believe it. I live in a small hick town and I’m pretty sure being openly gay has kept me from getting a teaching job. I can teach HS math (a critical needs area) yet I haven’t been able to get a job.
I have been asked offensive questions at interviews (how can you develop a relationship with students without being inappropriate? With a math degree you should have a position by now, something must be wrong with you, etc).
When I was Student Teaching my Mentor Teacher allowed the gay students to be bullied. He would allow students to refer to them as “queers” when they talked to him about the gay students.
At teachers meeting the Principle talked about how they were going to punish the gay couples for holding hands in the hallway but not the straight couples.
When I was taking School Law and Ethics and we were going over how teachers use to be fired just for being gay several of my peers said that gays shouldn’t be allowed to teach today.
Timothy Kincaid
You forgot the really exciting statistics that Daily Kos found
62% of Republicans are cannibals
93% of Republicans have scalped at least one gay person
81% of Republicans believe that Barney Frank is the anti-Christ
and most importantly
100% of polls which are commissioned and implemented with a desire to make some group appear evil are not reflective of reality.
Steve
You forgot the most important statistic about statistics:
93% of statistics given on the web and in blogs are made up out of thin air.
😉
Mike in Asheville, nee "in Brooklyn"
Answer to the Queerty question? NO
BUT, I DO BLAME YOU FOR OMITTING THAT ONLY 18% OF AMERICANS ARE NOW REPUBLICANS!
Per NBC/Wall Street Journal poll, 18% of Americans are “self-identified” Republicans: http://online.wsj.com/public/resources/documents/WSJ-NBC_Poll090922.pdf
Basically, the Daily Kos numbers have no value for determining relative approval/disapproval of anything other than what the remnants of wingnuts still identifying as Republicans. Thanks to W, over half of the Republicans who voted that jackass into office, twice, are no longer Republicans.
And this is what is making the manner in which the Administration is working its politics so fucking annoying. The Republican Party represents less than 1 in 5 Americans; so why does the Administration care what the fuck these asshole wingnut homophobic war-mongering morons think? Since there is all this ass kissing going on, let the Administration kiss our, LGBT, ass instead of kissing Joe the Plumber and his girlfriend Sarah Palin’s asses.