For example (although he is making an argument that they are all stupid, not some absurd screed against people he doesn’t agree with):

some 32% of Democrats believe that the Jews deserve a substantial amount of blame for the financial crisis (compared to 18% of Republicans). In November 2008, some 59% of Obama voters did not know that the Democrats then had control of Congress.

There’s a survey a while with many of the same questions here

I think my favorite is the first one “Do you believe that America and Africa were once part of the same continent?”, which appears to be “No” for almost the absolute majority of Republicans (including those that don’t know — only 24% think yes). bahahaha.

So, the answer is probably “mainly Republicans”

MikeM: Barely suppressed violence give me a break. Have you a shred of evidence for that proposition?

Patrick,

I provided the link to Runciman’s full transcript. Read it yourself to see what he says.

franith’s point about outrageous answers is a good one. If there are no consequences, I’m sure some people give answers that convey their feelings rather than their actual beliefs. If a poller asked me, do I think Nick Minchin eats babies for breakfast, I might say yes.

In fact, Kos commissioned the survey as support for his new book, the American Taliban.

He’s saying that Democrats shouldn’t bother trying to negotiate or find common ground with Republicans because at least a third of Republicans are certifiably insane.

So, rather than giving ground or trying to understand why their opponents object to their policies, Democrats should just talk amongst themselves and not worry about becoming more extreme or detached from mainstream opinion.

Rabid Republicans should be happy about Moulitsas’ approach . It plays to their favourite stereotype of Democrats as an elitists who look down on ordinary people and their values.

NGruen: I’d love to see the equivalent survey ran on Democrats. I will reserve judgment on America’s right-wing in the meantime.

If interviewers began with a screening question that asked whether the respondent was Republican or Democrat then there may be some selection bias.

It would be useful to see the survey instrument and the instructions they gave to the telephone interviewers.

But as if any more evidence was required that there is a substantial number of republicans that probably should be committed, don’t miss http://article.nationalreview.com/423580/how-to-save-the-obama-presidency-bomb-iran/daniel-pipes

Last year, in a series of “town-hall meetings” across the country, Americans got the chance to debate President Obama’s proposed healthcare reforms.

What happened was an explosion of rage and barely suppressed violence.

Polling evidence suggests that the numbers who think the reforms go to
o far are nearly matched by those who think they do not go far enough.

But it is striking that the people who most dislike the whole idea of healthcare reform – the ones who think it is socialist, godless, a step on the road to a police state – are often the ones it seems designed to help.

In Texas, where barely two-thirds of the population have full health insurance and over a fifth of all children have no cover at all, opposition to the legislation is currently running at 87%. [...]

But lest we think this is a uniquely American phenomenon, in the second part of the program this week he will be discussing why there is similar vehement opposition among the British public to inheritance taxes, especially by those who by no stretch of the imagination are ever likely to be troubled by them.