Blind Obedience and Loyalty To Northerner Sex Deviant Liar Trump Wanes In The Slow Thinking, Slow Moving, Radically Religious Deep South

[Mr. B1ack]

NBC News poll: The South, once a conservative bastion, is changing

A new NBC News | SurveyMonkey poll shows the South's political views are
more nuanced than many might expect, with Trump underwater.

by Alex Seitz-Wald / Apr.12.2018 / 2:39 AM ET / Updated Apr.12.2018 / 9:04
AM ET
WASHINGTON — The South is often viewed as a conservative monolith, but the
region's political views are more nuanced — and moderate — than many might
expect, according to new NBC News |SurveyMonkey polls.

The region's solid support for Donald Trump helped put him in the White
House, but Southerners have cooled a bit on the president, with less than
half saying they approve, 48 percent, and 51 percent disapproving.

Still, that's better than Trump's approval ratings nationwide, which stood
at just 43 percent in the poll. And he remains popular in several of the
Deep South states the polls examined in depth, with his strongest ratings
coming from Mississippi, where 57 percent approve.

Protesters representing various human rights organizations, immigrants,
students and DACA recipients march to the federal building in downtown
Jackson, Mississippi, on Sept. 8, 2017. Rogelio V. Solis / AP File
NBC News conducted the extensive surveys of the South in order to capture
residents' attitudes in the fast-changing region of the country.

Overall, the polls found voters in Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia,
Louisiana, Mississippi, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas,
and Virginia to be optimistic about the economy, amenable to immigration,
approving of same-sex marriage and open to paying higher taxes to fund
education and infrastructure.

At the same time, the polls found Southerners to be deeply distrustful of
the federal government (only 2 percent said they "just about always"
believe Washington will do what's right), opposed to the removal of
Confederate monuments from public areas, and committed to the GOP.

IMMIGRATION

While Trump's hardline policies on illegal immigration may appeal to his
base, Southerners are in line with the rest of the country on the question
of whether undocumented immigrants in the U.S. should be offered a chance
to apply for legal status.


Seven-in-10 adults nationally and 69 percent in the South think migrants
should be given a chance at attaining legal status, while 28 percent said
they should be deported. And in the states polled individually —Alabama,
Georgia, Mississippi and Tennessee — at least six-in-10 adults said they
favored giving migrants a chance to attain legal status before
deportation.

LGBT RIGHTS AND 'RELIGIOUS FREEDOM'

Less than three years after the Supreme Court legalized same-sex marriage
nationwide, a majority of Southerners — 55 percent — say they support
allowing homosexual couples to marry legally.

A demonstrator celebrates after the U.S. Supreme Court approved same-sex
marriage nationwide on June 26, 2015. Andrew Harrer / Bloomberg Via Getty
Images File
That's below the national rate of 64 percent, but nonetheless a drastic
turnaround for a region that strongly opposed gay marriage not long ago.

Still, other LGBT rights and "religious freedom" issues remain thornier.

For instance, in Mississippi, 65 percent of adults think business owners
should be allowed to refuse wedding services to same-sex couples if doing
so violates the owners' religious beliefs. Just 30 percent of
Mississippians said vendors like caterers and florists should be required
by law to provide those services.

The Supreme Court is currently considering a case looking at that
question.

SURPRISING FINDING ON TAXES

The polls also challenged conventional wisdom about taxes in conservative
states.

On the heels of teacher protests in conservative West Virginia and
Oklahoma, the poll found that a majority of Southerners are willing to pay
more in taxes to fund education and infrastructure.


Interestingly, Southerners were actually slightly more willing to raise
taxes on themselves than Americans overall, though the difference was
within the poll's margin of error.

On education, 57 percent of Southerners — including as high as 60 percent
in Mississippi — said they would pay higher taxes to improve public
schools, compared to 55 percent of all Americans. The numbers were
virtually identical when it came to taxes for infrastructure spending,
with 62 percent of Mississippians agreeing.

RACE RELATIONS, CONFEDERATE MONUMENTS

Across the board, Americans have a fairly dim view of the current state of
race relations. Only 15 percent of Southerners think race relations are
improving.

Demonstrators call for the removal of a Confederate monument in
Knoxville, Tennessee, on Aug. 26, 2017. Spencer Platt / Getty Images File
Meanwhile, a strong majority of Southerners — 61 percent — oppose removing
Confederate monuments and statues from public spaces, while just 36
percent support their removal. That number is even higher in some Deep
South states, with 65 percent of Alabamians and Mississippians opposing
removal.

2018 MIDTERMS

None of these findings, however, suggest the region is ready to throw off
the GOP and return to its Democratic roots.

Only a little more than a third of adults in Alabama, Mississippi, and
Tennessee — where Democrats are hoping to contest a Senate seat — said
they would consider voting Democratic in this year's midterm elections.

Nationally, the picture was reversed. Americans overall said they were
more likely to vote Democratic (44 percent) than Republican (38 percent)
this year.

GEORGIA

In all the data, one state stood out: Georgia. The economically booming
and rapidly diversifying state has long been on Democrats' over-the-
horizon wish list, and the poll gives them some cause for hope.

Related
The South is changing. That should worry Republicans in 2018.
Unlike residents of other Deep South states, Georgians were split about
evenly on whether they support Trump and whether they would vote
Democratic or Republican this year.

Compared to residents in other Southern states, Georgians were more likely
to trust the federal government, give undocumented immigrants a chance to
stay, support LGBT rights, favor removing Confederate monuments from
public places, and pay higher taxes to fund infrastructure and education.

And while most Southerners were bullish about the economy, a whopping 74
percent of Georgians rated their state's as good.

Still, Georgians overwhelmingly approved of their Republican governor and
senators, which could be a bad sign for Democrats hoping to win the
governor’s mansion this year.

ALABAMA

About four months after his upset election in the deeply conservative
state, Sen. Doug Jones remains popular.

Doug Jones, D-Ala., greets supporters after being elected to the Senate
on Dec. 12, 2017. Justin Sullivan / Getty Images
Fifty-two percent of Alabamians approve of Jones, while 40 percent
disapprove — giving the Democrat nearly identical ratings to those of the
state's other senator, Republican Richard Shelby.

Meanwhile, Gov. Kay Ivey, who took over after a sex-and-corruption scandal
ousted the previous governor, is overwhelmingly popular, with 75 percent
approving of Ivey, a Republican, and only 19 percent disapproving.

MISSISSIPPI

Mississippians are far less optimistic about the state of their economy
and government than the rest of the South.

A plurality of Mississippians rate the economy as "very" or "fairly bad,"
while only 36 percent think the Mississippi state government is doing a
good job at maintaining roads, bridges and other infrastructure. Those
numbers are higher in other Southern states.

Nonetheless, Mississippians hold individual political leaders in high
regard, with strong majorities approving of Gov. Phil Bryant (67 percent),
Sen. Roger Wicker (61 percent) and Thad Cochran (59 percent), who resigned
from the Senate this month, all Republicans.

Wicker is also up for re-election, setting up an unusual "double-
barreled" Senate race this year that Democrats hope they have an outside
shot at contesting.

TENNESSEE

Retiring Sen. Bob Corker, a Republican and frequent Trump critic, is
barely above water in his home state. Forty-eight percent approve of him,
while 47 percent disapprove.

That's notably weaker than the support enjoyed by his fellow Republicans,
Sen. Lamar Alexander and Gov. Bill Haslam, whose approval ratings outstrip
their disapproval ratings by double digits.

Former Gov. Phil Bredesen, a Democrat, is running to replace Corker and
was ahead in a recent poll, but his party affiliation will probably be a
drag. Just a third of Tennesseans said they would vote for a Democratic
candidate this year, while half said they would vote Republican; 14
percent said they wouldn't vote at all.

The NBC News|SurveyMonkey polls were conducted March 12-25, 2018, among a
national sample of 15,238 adults (+/- 1.1); a regional sample of 4,132
adults who live in Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Louisiana,
Mississippi, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas and Virginia
(+/- 2.4); a sample of 1,486 adults who live in Mississippi (+/-4.6); a
sample of 1,498 adults who live in Alabama (+/- 4.5); a sample of 2,209
adults who live in Georgia (+/- 3.4); and a sample of 1,710 adults who
live in Tennessee (+/- 4.1). For full results and methodology, click here.