Partisan Differences in Knowledge
About six-in-ten Republicans (63%) correctly estimated the unemployment rate at about 10%, compared with 48% of Democrats. A wide partisan gap is also seen in awareness of the U.S. trade deficit: 72% of Republicans and 58% of Democrats say that the U.S. buys more good from abroad that it sells.
Republican are also more likely to know than the GOP was perceived as winning the midterms and to know that the Republicans won a majority in the House. And while only about half of Republicans (47%) could identify John Boehner as the next House speaker, slightly fewer Democrats (38%) know this.
Republicans and Democrats each are largely unaware of how much of the TARP loans have been repaid and relatively few in both parties estimated the inflation rate at about 1%. As noted, more Democrats than Republicans know that the government spends more on national defense than on interest on the national debt, Medicare or education.
The breakdown shows that men answered more questions correctly than women, whites more correctly than blacks, college graduates answered more correctly than some college or high school or less, age groups from 50-64 had the highest correct answer ratio followed by 65+ then followed by 40-49 and the lowest scores came from the 18-29 age group.
Last but not least Republicans answer more questions correctly than Independents who answered more correctly than Democrats.
Funny, for those that scream the loudest in the media and blogosphere, Democrats know the least about what is happening.
Amazing huh?
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