Poll: Nearly A Quarter Of Republican Voters Want Their State To Secede

When President Obama was elected, many people expected the Republican Party to become more moderate and embrace certain elements of social change.  However, as the ascent of Glenn Beck and the Tea Party movement proved, the far-right had no intention of loosening their stranglehold on the GOP. 

Now, a new poll from Research 2000 confirms what many observers have said for months: today's Republican Party is perhaps more extreme than ever. 

In a poll of 2,003 self-identified Republicans, 23% of respondents said they want their state to secede from the union, while another 19% said they weren't sure.  That means 42% could not say definitively that their home state should remain part of the U.S.  (Wouldn't people in "pro-America areas of this great nation" consider that unpatriotic?)

The remaining findings show the party to be paranoid, resentful, and fiercely intolerant. 

A strong majority of Republicans believe that Obama is a socialist (63%).  More than half either believe that Obama wasn't born in the U.S. (36%) or say they aren't sure (22%).  Nearly a quarter actually believe that Obama "wants the terrorists to win" (24%), while almost a third consider him "a racist who hates White people" (31%).  About four in ten Republicans think that Obama should be impeached (39%).     

Meanwhile, only a small fraction of Republicans believe that same-sex couples deserve any federal or state benefits (11%), and even fewer think gay men and women should be allowed to teach in public schools (8%). 

So, it's easy to see why congressional Republicans are refusing to work with the president.  Doing so, in any form, would surely open them up to attacks from within the party.  On the other hand, one wonders how much the rhetoric of Republican leaders has affected the views of their supporters.      

View the complete poll results HERE.