Southerners/Republicans Favor Federal Help

I was intrigued by this poll, but found my friend Riley already had an excellent post on Blue Ridge Data. Cross-posted here with his permission.

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The anti-big government tea party and Gadsden Flag contingent, sure made a lot of noise and fuss this year, but here's some data to suggest that Southerners are more economically rational than the FoxNewsCorp sponsored "tea party" storyline would indicate.

New data from polling by Winthrop University, has some findings that run counter to GOP and FoxNews talking points. <> Overall, 71.6% Southerners strongly support government programs to create jobs and 62.7% favor assisting states in financial crisis. <> 94.5% of Southern Democrats strongly favor government-backed initiatives to spark economic growth. <> 68.9% of Southern Independents favor government-backed initiatives to spark economic growth. <> And to invoke Gomer Pyle ... Surprise, Surprise, Surprise ... 53.4% of Southern Republicans also support job aid programs and 50.9% support aid to struggling states.

Poll Dates: 10/24 to 11/7 2009

n=866 respondents in 11 Southern states.

MOE= 3.33%.

h/t Media Matters Action