Data Showing That Conservatives Know More About Politics Than Their Liberal Counterparts

Did I mention the word data? Why yes, I did. You see, that kooky thing called ‘data’ is something that conservatives happen to love. So as a conservative chick myself, you can only imagine my delight when I saw some actual numbers that coincide with what we’ve been talking about here on COTR over the last day and a half. That whole liberal vs. conservative argument thing.

In a recent poll taken by the Pew Research Center, they took “a Pew Political IQ test conducted over the phone with 1,002 adults from Oct. 1-4. They were asked 12 questions, and answered an average of 5.3 questions correctly.”

What interested me the most about this poll is the section titled “Partisan Knowledge Gap.” Often portrayed as toothless, redneck, racist, slackjawed, homophobe, nutjob, crazy, whitebread, right-wing extremists with no brains in their heads, but really, really big gun racks in their big ol’ rusted-out pickup trucks, it was interesting to see that Republicans actually know more about politics than Democrats.

Huh. Who would’ve thunk it? Our tiny little acorn-sized brains may have gotten lucky here, but the numbers are interesting, nonetheless, so here they are for sh*ts and giggles:

Summed up nicely by The Weekly Standard:

Under a section called “Partisan Knowledge Gap,” we find Republicans were more knowledgeable by a double-digit factor on four issues. Although the Glenn Beck question is naturally easier for Republicans, the other three issues are basic political knowledge— what “cap-and-trade” means, who’s in control of the House, and who the new Supreme Court Justice is (a question that should perhaps be easier for Democrats). Republicans also led Democrats on identifying the unemployment rate, Fed chairman, Dow level, Max Baucus’ position. Republicans correctly answered an Iran/Israel question and an Afghanistan question more often than Dems. Republicans and Democrats were even on identifying the “public option” as a health-care plan.

But all you Janeane Garofalos out there – take heart. You led the poll on one question, I think, and because I know you will, regardless, you can just keep on pretending that conservatives are just as dumb as a box of rocks. Subsequently, we’ll pass on the emotional arguments that have little to nothing to back it up and keep digging for the real data that actually matters when all is said and done.