A new poll shows that 23.9 percent of respondents said they “strongly supported or tended to support the idea of their state” seceding from the US, while 53.3 percent said they “strongly oppose or tended to oppose” the idea, reported Reuters.
The idea of leaving the union “got more support from Republicans than Democrats, more from right- than left-leaning independents, more from younger than older people, more from lower- than higher-income brackets, more from high school than college grads.”
Those respondents who identified themselves as affiliated with the Tea Party actually had the most support for secession out of any demographic, 53 percent.
The poll also showed that, while there were more groups that supported the idea more than others, there was “surprising amount of support in every group and region,” said Reuters.
Follow-up phone calls with some pro-secession respondents showed that they,
“seemed to have answered as they did as a form of protest that was neither red nor blue but a polychromatic riot — against a recovery that has yet to produce jobs, against jobs that don’t pay, against mistreatment of veterans, against war, against deficits, against hyper-partisanship, against the assault on same-sex marriage, against government in the bedroom, against government in general — the president, Congress, the courts, and both political parties.”
The data showed that “the sense of aggrievement is comprehensive, bipartisan, somewhat incoherent, but deeply felt.”
The region with the strongest support for secession was the Southwest, with 34 percent supporting the idea. Next was the Rockies with 26 percent. The region with the lowest support was New England, which still had 19 percent of respondents open to secession.
“The United States hardly seems to be on the verge of fracture,” concluded Reuters’ Jim Gaines, “and the small secession movements in a handful of American states today represent a tiny percentage of those polled by Reuters. But any country where 60 million people declare themselves to be sincerely aggrieved — especially one that is fractious by nature — is a country living either the sophistry of a demagogue or a serious movement for reform.”
For complete poll results, click here.
