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Gallup: South Dakotans Think They Are 19th Most Conservative State

In another excuse to ask people to send him money, Gordon Howie groans linklessly that a Gallup poll finds South Dakota is not in Gallup's new list of the ten most conservative states.

Here's the Gallup poll:

Gallup poll, percentages of self-identified conservatives, moderates, and liberals in each state, 2012
Gallup poll, percentages of self-identified conservatives, moderates, and liberals in each state, 2012

South Dakota is 19th on that list. We have fewer self-identifying conservatives and more self-identifying liberals (howdy, neighbor!) than North Dakota, Montana, Wyoming, and Nebraska.

Our 19th ranking on this conservative list suggests various conclusions:

  1. The folks in the states above us are lying to themselves, since, as mostly rural states, they subsidize their comfortable local conservatism with big federal subsidies paid for by their urban, liberal neighbors.
  2. Fellow liberals, South Dakota is not a lost cause. We're the minority everywhere (and admit it: it's more fun that way!). But remind the moderates that our liberalism is on their side much more than the theocratic crony-corporatism masquerading as conservatism, and you have a better chance of winning elections than a similar coalition in several other red states (like North Dakota, which just managed to elect a Democrat as their Senator).

Gordon, you're welcome for my adding value to your pablum. And because I'm a liberal, I won't ask for a cut of your contributions. (However, my own Tip Jar, below the comments atop the near-right sidebar, remains open to liberals, moderates, and conservatives alike.)

Update 12:49 MST: The Displaced Plainsman, a skilled teacher of rhetoric, also gives Gordon an F for claims wholly detached from evidence poorly cited.

9 Comments

  1. mike 2013.02.03

    This is exactly why Kristi Noem keeps Gordon Howie, Ed Rendazzo and the Tea Party put away in the closet most of the time. She's not one of them and she doesn't want to be seen with them unless it can be a low key pandering session the rest of the state doesn't see.

    Someday they will wake up and realize she's using them but until then they do their best to think she's one of them. While she keeps them at arms length.

  2. mike 2013.02.03

    It's amazing how few states are liberal.

  3. larry kurtz 2013.02.03

    I retweeted this poll yesterday noting the tie between ND and Wyo. mostly because "Gallop" is a joke. But, make no mistake: South Dakota IS a lost cause.

  4. Donald Pay 2013.02.03

    See, I consider myself a fiscal conservative, but am a progressive on most issues, and moderate on others. And I think a lot of people are like me in having a mix of ideology. Self-identification of ideology is usually not accurate. For example, if you poll most conservatives, you will find strong support for Social Security and Medicare, and little support for cuts to those programs.

  5. Paul Koopman 2013.02.03

    As polls goes, this one is about as worthless as they come. Draw your own conclusions, but I'd suggest righties are far more likely to be comfortable with a one-word label to describe their political views than lefties are. As for myself, I don't call myself a liberal; I call myself a libertarian socialist on fiscal and monetary policy, and a moderate progressive on social issues. I'd guess a lot of those who choose "moderate" are simply dissatisfied with the term "liberal" and/or its connotations. That doesn't mean they're going to vote for republican candidates or ideas.

  6. caheidelberger Post author | 2013.02.03

    Indeed, Paul: given three words to choose from to describe their politics, a lot of people will feel left out.

    Both Donald and Paul make clear we would need much more in-depth conversations with the 744 South Dakotans surveyed, as well as the 212,000 people in the nationwide sample, to draw good conclusions about where Americans stand politically. Gordon's use of this poll to justify further flogging his "SDGOP = RINOs!" dead horse is illogical.

  7. Stan Gibilisco 2013.02.03

    I agree with Paul that this poll has little real value, if any. People do not see themselves the way others see them.

    A person from Vermont might see people from Arizona as staunchly conservative.

    A person from Alabama might see people from Arizona as flaming liberals.

    A person from Iran might see the whole lot of us as a bunch of libertarian loons.

    And so on...

    There's a poll for everything. I wonder how many people in Idaho, for example, would think that people's poop stinks relatively more or less than average? How about Texas with all those bad burritos?

  8. Winston 2013.02.04

    Mike, it's also amazing how many states claim to be conservative while they welcomely accept medicare, medicaid, social security, farm aid, student loans, earned income credits, and disaster relief... just to name a few.

  9. Steve Sibson 2013.02.05

    "The folks in the states above us are lying to themselves, since, as mostly rural states, they subsidize their comfortable local conservatism with big federal subsidies paid for by their urban, liberal neighbors."

    That is how liberals control consrvatives. Time to say "no" to federal money. I hae been saying that for years.

Comments are closed.