# Why are Republicans so obtuse? **URL:** \ **Category:** Great Debates\ **Created:** [February 2, 2010, 6:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-republicans-so-obtuse/527412 "2010-02-02T18:04:26Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Great\_Dave](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/46a35a/32.png) [@Great\_Dave](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Great_Dave)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2010, 6:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-republicans-so-obtuse/527412/1 "2010-02-02T18:04:26Z")
> **[The Ten Most Alarming Things in This Poll of Republican Values and Beliefs](https://nymag.com/intelligencer/2010/02/there_are_so_many_alarming_thi.html)** > > What the GOP thinks of Obama, gays, and more. More than half aren’t sure if Obama is a citizen. Two-thirds think he hates white people. Over half thinks he wants the terrorists to win. Ridiculous! ---
**Author:** ![Contrapuntal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e274bd/32.png) [@Contrapuntal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Contrapuntal)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2010, 6:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-republicans-so-obtuse/527412/2 "2010-02-02T18:07:21Z")
Knowing absolutely nothing about the methodology employed, is there any particular reason to trust this poll? ---
**Author:** ![Beware\_of\_Doug](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/278dde/32.png) [@Beware\_of\_Doug](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beware_of_Doug)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2010, 6:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-republicans-so-obtuse/527412/3 "2010-02-02T18:08:26Z")
You know the saying “Reality has a liberal bias”? Well, deep down in places they don’t talk about, conservatives agree. They’re just trying to correct for it. ---
**Author:** ![Kyla](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/eada6e/32.png) [@Kyla](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kyla)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2010, 6:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-republicans-so-obtuse/527412/4 "2010-02-02T18:14:58Z")
From [here](http://www.dailykos.com/statepoll/2010/1/31/US/437). > [@](#): > > Methodology > DKOS REPUBLICAN POLL 2010 > > The Daily Kos Republican Poll was conducted by Research 2000 from January 20 through January 31, 2010. A total of 2003 self identified Republicans were interviewed by telephone. > > The margin for error, according to standards customarily used by statisticians, is no more than plus or minus 2% percentage points. This means that there is a 95 percent probability that the “true” figure would fall within that range if the entire self identified Republican population were sampled. The margin for error is higher for any demographic subgroup, such as for gender or region. > GEOGRAPHIC BREAKDOWN: > > Northeast: > DC, ME, VT, NY, MD, PA, CT, DE, MA, NH, RI, WV, NJ > > South: > FL, NC, SC, AL, MS, GA, VA, TN, KY, LA, AR, TX > > Midwest: > IL, MN, MI, OH, WI, IA, MO, KS, IN, ND, SD, OK, NE > > West: > NM, CA, OR, WA, AK, HI, MT, ID, UT, NV, AZ, WY, CO I’m not a statistician (I’m actually retaking stats this semester because I got a C last year and B- is passing in my program, ugh), but this doesn’t look too terrible. For a really accurate picture, I guess we’d have to see the precise wording used, but I wouldn’t expect a survey to provide that information anyway. The 77% of Republicans who think that the Bible should be taught in public schools is, for me, the most depressing response. I already knew that Republicans are detached from reality when it comes to Obama. ETA: I take that back. 73% of Republicans think that gay people shouldn’t be allowed to be teachers?! Ugh. ---
**Author:** ![XT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/xt/32/456_2.png) [@XT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/XT)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2010, 6:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-republicans-so-obtuse/527412/5 "2010-02-02T18:15:21Z")
> [@](#): > > More than half aren’t sure if Obama is a citizen. Two-thirds think he hates white people. Over half thinks he wants the terrorists to win. Ridiculous! The funny thing is that I’m sure there would be a similar list of ‘ridiculous’ things that liberals believed about Bush if you crafted the poll in a similar way. [QUOTE=Beware of Doug] You know the saying “Reality has a liberal bias”? [/QUOTE] _snort_ Just keep telling yourself that. I’ve heard conservatives say that ‘Reality has a conservative bias’ as well. Frankly, I think that both sides are delusional. Reality has a moderate bias. 😛 -XT ---
**Author:** ![Jackmannii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jackmannii/32/311_2.png) [@Jackmannii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jackmannii)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2010, 6:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-republicans-so-obtuse/527412/6 "2010-02-02T18:18:21Z")
Republicans are not obtuse; they’re confined to right angles. ---
**Author:** ![tacoloco](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/7993a0/32.png) [@tacoloco](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tacoloco)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2010, 6:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-republicans-so-obtuse/527412/7 "2010-02-02T18:18:33Z")
I propose a new poll. Why are PEOPLE so obtuse. ---
**Author:** ![GIGObuster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gigobuster/32/421_2.png) [@GIGObuster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GIGObuster)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2010, 6:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-republicans-so-obtuse/527412/8 "2010-02-02T18:21:08Z")
> [@xtisme](#): > > _snort_ Just keep telling yourself that. I’ve hear conservatives that ‘Reality has a conservative bias’ as well. Frankly, I think that both sides are delusional. Reality has a moderate bias. 😛 > > -XT I agree with that, even with the smilie. The problem is now that for many “realities” that have science supporting it (Evolution and Climate Change for example), most Republicans are against them, nothing moderate about it. ---
**Author:** ![Biffy\_the\_Elephant\_Shrew](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e47c2d/32.png) [@Biffy\_the\_Elephant\_Shrew](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Biffy_the_Elephant_Shrew)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2010, 6:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-republicans-so-obtuse/527412/9 "2010-02-02T18:22:04Z")
> [@Jackmannii](#): > > Republicans are not obtuse; they’re confined to right angles. _rimshot_ ---
**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2010, 6:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-republicans-so-obtuse/527412/10 "2010-02-02T18:24:39Z")
> [@Great\_Dave](#): > > More than half aren’t sure if Obama is a citizen. Two-thirds think he hates white people. Over half thinks he wants the terrorists to win. Ridiculous! How is 24% “over half”? > [@](#): > > QUESTION: Do you believe Barack Obama wants the terrorists to win? > > YES NO NOT SURE > 24 43 33 Kyla, you forgot to quote the breakdown by gender: > [@](#): > > MEN 1125 56% > WOMEN 878 44% Men are generally more conservative than women in the US. Old people are more conservative than young people. People in the South and West are more conservative than people in the North and Midwest. They’re all overrepresented. ---
**Author:** ![Beadalin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/3be4f8/32.png) [@Beadalin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beadalin)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2010, 6:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-republicans-so-obtuse/527412/11 "2010-02-02T18:24:50Z")
> [@xtisme](#): > > The funny thing is that I’m sure there would be a similar list of ‘ridiculous’ things that liberals believed about Bush if you crafted the poll in a similar way. Did you read the questions in the poll? How would you have crafted them differently? ---
**Author:** ![Beware\_of\_Doug](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/278dde/32.png) [@Beware\_of\_Doug](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beware_of_Doug)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2010, 6:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-republicans-so-obtuse/527412/12 "2010-02-02T18:27:26Z")
> [@xtisme](#): > > I’ve heard conservatives say that ‘Reality has a conservative bias’ as well. Frankly, I think that both sides are delusional. Reality has a moderate bias. 😛 It’s all in the frame. The reality of social goods is more liberal; the reality of market imperatives, more conservative. Look at the way libs and cons use the phrase _the real world_; the difference is as night and day. ---
**Author:** ![Kyla](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/eada6e/32.png) [@Kyla](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kyla)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2010, 6:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-republicans-so-obtuse/527412/13 "2010-02-02T18:28:32Z")
> [@xtisme](#): > > The funny thing is that I’m sure there would be a similar list of ‘ridiculous’ things that liberals believed about Bush if you crafted the poll in a similar way. I doubt it, not that we have any idea of how the poll was crafted. I’m a liberal and most of my friends are liberals. And yet I don’t know anyone who thinks that Bush was literally trying to destroy the US, which is what Republicans obviously think about about Obama with the “wanting the terrorists to win” thing. The worst thing I can think of that a lot of liberals genuinely do believe about Bush is is that he intentionally lied to go to war in Iraq, which is, imho, a slight mischaracterization of the situation. I do think he really wanted to go to war in Iraq and his administration intentionally interpreted all intelligence in such a way to make it happen. I don’t think they actually knew there were no WMDs and were like “fuck it, let’s go to war anyway, hahaha!” They just believed what they wanted to believe and ignored any contradictory evidence. This is a POV I’ve picked up from doing a lot of reading on the topic, especially from the book _Cobra II_, which I recommend. ---
**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2010, 6:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-republicans-so-obtuse/527412/14 "2010-02-02T18:30:05Z")
Is Sly in that one? ---
**Author:** ![Great\_Dave](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/46a35a/32.png) [@Great\_Dave](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Great_Dave)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2010, 6:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-republicans-so-obtuse/527412/15 "2010-02-02T18:30:24Z")
> [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](#): > > How is 24% “over half”? > > Kyla, you forgot to quote the breakdown by gender: > > Men are generally more conservative than women in the US. Old people are more conservative than young people. People in the South and West are more conservative than people in the North and Midwest. They’re all overrepresented. 24% say he isn’t a citizen + 33% who aren’t sure= more than half aren’t sure he is a citizen. ---
**Author:** ![Harmonious\_Discord](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/74df32/32.png) [@Harmonious\_Discord](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Harmonious_Discord)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2010, 6:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-republicans-so-obtuse/527412/16 "2010-02-02T18:30:38Z")
Why are Republicans so obtuse? They eat too much. ---
**Author:** ![Kyla](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/eada6e/32.png) [@Kyla](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kyla)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2010, 6:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-republicans-so-obtuse/527412/17 "2010-02-02T18:31:12Z")
> [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](#): > > Kyla, you forgot to quote the breakdown by gender: You’re right, I didn’t notice that. ---
**Author:** ![Kyla](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/eada6e/32.png) [@Kyla](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kyla)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2010, 6:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-republicans-so-obtuse/527412/18 "2010-02-02T18:32:13Z")
> [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](#): > > Is Sly in that one? Yeah, it’s awesome. There’s a LOT of blowing up of shit. ---
**Author:** ![Contrapuntal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e274bd/32.png) [@Contrapuntal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Contrapuntal)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2010, 6:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-republicans-so-obtuse/527412/19 "2010-02-02T18:32:27Z")
> [@Great\_Dave](#): > > 24% say he isn’t a citizen + 33% who aren’t sure= more than half aren’t sure he is a citizen. The question wasn’t about citizenship, it was about wanting the terrorists to win. ---
**Author:** ![Kyla](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/eada6e/32.png) [@Kyla](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kyla)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2010, 6:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-republicans-so-obtuse/527412/20 "2010-02-02T18:35:06Z")
> [@Contrapuntal](#): > > The question wasn’t about citizenship, it was about wanting the terrorists to win. Okay, then, 58% of people polled either believe Obama was born outside of the US, or aren’t sure what to believe. I never trusted the State of Hawaii, either. If they don’t have anything to hide, what are they doing all the way over there? Sneaky fuckers. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-republicans-so-obtuse/527412.md?page=2)