Curious Statistic of the Day

According to Gallup, 20 percent of American conservatives say they like socialism.

[Hat tip: Bruce Bartlett.]

Comments

[John Thacker]

Twenty percent of people will take any option in a survey.

Hell, I'm sure you could get a survey where 20 percent of libertarians say that they like socialism.

[Fatty Bolger]

20% probably do. At least.

[JB]

Probably more than 20%.

The faster the system falls, the sooner it can be rebuilt.

Little New America flags for some, abortions for a whole lot more.

[Fist of Etiquette]

Just as likely, 20% of "conservatives" don't know what socialism means.

[John Tagliaferro]

And 10% of people who say they are conservatives don't know what conservative means. Another 10% are talking about a different aspect than what the way the biased pollster is going to spin it.

[smartass sob]

Not surprising.

[Ken Shultz]

I think "conservative" means something different to people today than it used to.

I remember when "conservative" meant opposition to the New Deal, a desire for lower taxes and lower budgets...

Bush the Lesser seemed to resonate the most with what used to be called Reagan Democrats. ...blue collar workers, some unionized, and cultural conservatives in the South. Mix those together, like Bush the lesser did, it wouldn't surprise me to hear that Southern blue collar workers don't think of free-markets and capitalism when they think "conservative".

Could religious, culturally conservative blue collar workers account for 36% of the people who think of themselves as conservative?

The correct answer is "Of course!"

[John Tagliaferro]

I hate threaded comments. Especially when I don't read 10 min. into the future.

[Almanian]

You had brevity on your side, JT

[John Thacker]

The poll a while back asking if Obama was the Antichrist-- it turned out that 5% of Obama voters told pollsters they thought Obama was the Antichrist.

[John Tagliaferro]

The other 95% knew not to admit it to a pollster.

[Pro Libertate]

So we know that at least 5% of Americans are pro-Anti-Christ.

[John Tagliaferro]

Just 5% of Obama voters. Oh yea, that is 5% of America since nobody could disagree with him.

[Episiarch]

I know I am, so there's one for you. OMG 666

[Pro Libertate]

And you didn't vote, right? So that's 5% of Obama voters plus one male adult resident of Seattle. Suspect may be armed with a Satanic sword. Approach with caution. Lethal force authorized.

[Guy in Apt. 665]

I live next door to the Anti-Christ, and let me tell you, he's one noisy bastard. Just plays those damned Men Without Hats LPs all day long on his piece-of-shit Symphonic home stereo. And he burns so much musk-scented cheap-assed incense that it has permeated the entire building.

[Guy in Apt. 667]

I'm calling a tenants' meeting. I've had enough of that fucker as well.

I had my cousin Tony (no relation) brick up the door to his apartment, but the fucker can walk through walls! And his place is rent-controlled, of course.

There oughta be some kind of anti-Anti-Christ law, I tell ya.

[SIV]

I'd love to see a breakdown of Obama voters who supported him despite his being the Antichrist versus those who supported him because he was.

[Joe M]

I would guess that a significant percentage of people don't really know what capitalism and socialism are, precisely. But they do know that free enterprise is a big buzzword, so they like that.

[John Tagliaferro]

Big buzzword that means free stuff.

[heller]

According to a more recent Gallup poll, 20% percent of conservatives identify themselves as "retards"

Interesting.

[j.i.am]

Or that conservatives have a 20% positive view of using some socialism as practical means of taking care of the retarded.

[Rahn Immanuel]

Fucking Retards!

[PapayaSF]

Also interesting: 18% of Democrats/Democrat leaners have a negative image of entrepreneurs, and 5% have a negative image of small business. Who, outside of North Korea, dislikes small business?

[Plague Dog]

Graveyard shift workers at small businesses.

[Almanian]

Self-loathing small business owners.

[Brandybuck]

Big business Democrats

[Pro Libertate]

People with Five-Year Plans.

[Lies, Damned Lies, Statistics]

They're probably something like those 2 or 3% in any survey about the afterlife who tell the pollster they believe they're going to Hell. (Of course, any way you slice it, at least some of the much heftier percentage who believe they're going to Heaven are fooling themselves, but that's another topic for another day.)

Those 5% of 0bama voters who believed themselves to be voting for the anti-Christ probably just like to flaunt how "bad" they are, as in "I'm one bad mofo! Yeah, I'm votin' hardcore bad!"

As for the self-identified conservatives liking socialism, there are probably a couple of factors in play:

- Some of them don't know what conservatism is. (Some of these ignoramuses have to have been voting in 2008; how else can we explain the country's alleged tilt to the right in the surveys even as it tilted the far left into power in so many places?)

- Some of them were just plain lying. (Remember the "life-long Republicans" revealed to be Democrat poseurs in 2008?)

- Some maybe think socialism is "compassionate" because they see it helping the poor. (As long as you don't think too hard about the source of the funding or question how efficiently and effectively it's spent and whether private charity and the free market might be able to do a better job, you might think socialism looks pretty nice.)

- As already noted, these may be social conservatives and fiscal liberals. I don't see any indication that the survey paid any attention to any of these categorical differences.

[Slap happy]

35% of statistics don't mean a thing.

[no one]

But only 48% of people know that.

[Colonel_Angus]

A lot of "Conservatives" love protectionism, farm subsidies, social security, medicare, public schools, corporate welfare defense spending.

[Almanian]

Liberal Fascists for Conservative Anarchy! Yeah - Change We Can Believe In! 'kin A!

[oldtimer]

Public schools have done an admirable job. that's all it tells us.

[Syd Henderson]

What percentage likes National Socialism?

[Sadistic Eristic]

How can so many posters be so wrong? 20% of self-identified conservatives call themselves conservatives simply because they know that they don't like "liberalism" and conservatives oppose liberalism.

... or maybe they just don't know what "like" means.

[Sadistic Eristic]

I really would have liked to see higher negatives for the federal govmint.

[Sadistic Eristic]

President Barack Obama made frequent positive references to small business in his recent State of the Union address, perhaps aware of the very positive associations Americans have with that term.

Surely, BHO wouldn't be so cynical.

[Connie Servative]

Oh, honey, let's go bowling with the Johnsons Friday night.

I've been feeling socialist.

[heller]

There are two puns in this post. Prepare to be banned.

[Umbriel]

20% sounds about right for Huckabee's constituancy...

[leftist]

Makes sense. The status quo is pretty socialist, and conservative suggests a belief in maintaining the status quo.

[Some dude]

"...you have a positive or negative view of "socialism"?"

Was this a phone poll? How did they communicate the scare quotes?

[BeesInTheBrain]

According to the survey, the moderates are the ones you have to watch out for.

[Aresen]

I had an uncle who considered himself both a conservative and a socialist.

His creed came down to "God Bless America and Presbyterians, God Damn N*****s & J**s, gimme my Social Security and Make the Rich Pay".

[affenkopf]

Good thing you censor Jews, children could be reading this!

[oaktownadam]

huh, I read that as "Japs", not "Jews".

I guess that reveals more about us than it does about Aresen's uncle.

[heller]

So your uncle was retarded?

[hmm]

99% of the 20% of conservative that think socialism is okay are on medicare.

[hmm]

I'll be it's not 99% but I'd bet at least half break down as an older demo.

[Ebeneezer Scrooge]

And eight out of ten people have never been surveyed.

[Amakudari]

So, wait, 60% of liberals have a positive view of capitalism and 61% have a positive view of socialism? It's retarded enough to like socialism, but how in God's name do you like both?

[Ebeneezer Scrooge]

Thou shalt not discriminate or be racist. Or call anyone names or hurt their feelings.

Unless you don't vote for ObamaCare. Then the gloves are coming off and they might call you anything.

[Asharak]

I'm surprised it isn't higher.

And most "conservatives" are only against socialism when somebody else is getting the handout.

[BakedPenguin]

it turned out that 5% of Obama voters told pollsters they thought Obama was the Antichrist.

Well, I bet Esham was an Obama supporter (I don't know if he voted), and he definitely supports the anti-christ, so maybe they polled his fans.

[Sean Healy]

Duh. National socialism. Clear now?