Hoping to reinforce attacks on John Kerry’s alleged inconsistencies, Bush seems to enjoy a specific sound bite. He says it on the stump all the time and he used it in the debates.
“I understand everybody in this country doesn’t agree with the decisions I’ve made. And I made some tough decisions. But people know where I stand. People out there listening know what I believe.”
The truth is, a lot of Americans do know where Bush stands and what he believes, but there’s a name for such people: they’re called Kerry voters.
At this point, the evidence is overwhelming that most Bush voters have little clue about current events and the candidates’ policy positions. Bush may be the president who’s lost touch with reality, but he’s also the candidate with supporters who are equally confused.
By now, you may have heard about the stunning report from the Program on International Policy Attitudes at the University of Maryland, called, “The Separate Realities of Bush and Kerry Supporters.” It’s a must-read. It’s further evidence that Bush voters are incredibly, shockingly ignorant.
* 72% of Bush supporters continue to believe that Iraq had actual WMD (47%) or a major program for developing them (25%). Fifty-six percent assume that most experts believe Iraq had actual WMD and 57% also assume, incorrectly, that Duelfer concluded Iraq had at least a major WMD program. Kerry supporters hold opposite beliefs on all these points.
* 75% of Bush supporters continue to believe that Iraq was providing substantial support to al Qaeda, and 63% believe that clear evidence of this support has been found. Sixty percent of Bush supporters assume that this is also the conclusion of most experts, and 55% assume, incorrectly, that this was the conclusion of the 9/11 Commission. Here again, large majorities of Kerry supporters have exactly opposite perceptions.
* Bush supporters also have numerous misperceptions about Bush’s international policy positions. Majorities incorrectly assume that Bush supports multilateral approaches to various international issues–the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty (69%), the treaty banning land mines (72%)–and for addressing the problem of global warming: 51% incorrectly assume he favors US participation in the Kyoto treaty. After he denounced the International Criminal Court in the debates, the perception that he favored it dropped from 66%, but still 53% continue to believe that he favors it. An overwhelming 74% incorrectly assumes that he favors including labor and environmental standards in trade agreements. In all these cases, majorities of Bush supporters favor the positions they impute to Bush. Kerry supporters are much more accurate in their perceptions of his positions on these issues.
So many times in recent months, I’ve received emails from people asking, “How could anyone who knows what’s happening in the world still support Bush?” In this sense, PIPA’s results should make all of us feel better. It offers a rational explanation for irrational behavior — too many of Bush’s supporters don’t know what’s happening in the world.
PIPA’s director had an interesting take on the results.
The polls results, said Steven Kull, the head of the Program on International Policy Attitudes at the University of Maryland, which conducted the survey, showed that Americans are so polarized two weeks before the election that many lack even a common understanding of the facts.
“It is rather unique the extent to which we have different perceptions of reality,” Kull said.
That’s diplomatic, but unhelpful. We’re not just dealing with “different” perceptions of reality; we’re dealing with one side of the political divide that is clearly wrong about current events, while the other is clearly right. The study’s questions deal with empirical, demonstrable truths, not subjective opinions. Our side, generally, is aware of these truths, while Bush supporters are not. PIPA certainly went out of its way to avoid calling Republicans “ignorant,” but that’s an entirely fair description of their knowledge given the data.
It’s also worth noting that this is not an isolated survey. Last month, Gallup discovered that nearly two-in-three Republicans think Saddam Hussein was personally involved in the 9/11 attacks. The National Annenberg Election Survey showed Bush’s supporters didn’t know their candidate’s positions on a variety of key election issues. A different PIPA study, released last month, reported, “Americans who plan to vote for President Bush have many incorrect assumptions about his foreign policy positions. Kerry supporters, on the other hand, are largely accurate in their assessments.” Similarly, Fox News viewers (aka Republicans) lacked basic knowledge about WMD in Iraq, alleged Iraqi involvement in 9/11, and international support for a U.S. invasion of Iraq, which viewers of other networks were well aware of.
No wonder the Bush administration thinks of our side as the “reality-based community.”
But it also points to a fundamental problem for which there is no obvious solution: If a democracy is dependent on an informed electorate, how can the political system function effectively when one side of the political divide is tragically misinformed?