Ethics

Ignorance and Elections

By Ed Brayton

Yes, these poll results should bother you:

Asked to identify his religion, 58 percent of respondents correctly said Obama was a Christian. But a surprising 11 percent said he was a Muslim. And 22 percent said they did not know what his religion was.

Almost one-fifth of white Democratic voters polled also said they had an unfavorable opinion of Obama because of his name.

No, the American public isn't entirely ignorant - but enough are ignorant to easily swing an election. And yes, that bothers me. I don't have a solution to it, but it bothers me.

Full post as published by Dispatches from the Culture Wars on May 27, 2008 (boomark / email).