“‘12 Years a Slave’ Oscar Win: Nearly 40 Percent More Democrats Than Republicans Agree With Best Picture Result” shouts the headline discussing this recent poll:
A new study from North Carolina-based national polling firm Public Policy Polling provides insight into what registered voters think about the pick, broken down by their political beliefs, who they voted for in 2012, gender, race, age and the mode in which they completed the survey (80 percent of those polled were surveyed by phone; 20 percent weighed in online).
Overall, of the 1,152 people polled between March 6 and March 9, when asked, “Do you agree or disagree with the selection of 12 Years a Slave as best picture in this year’s Oscars?,” 32 percent said they agreed, 16 percent said they disagreed, and 52 percent were not sure.
But while a majority of respondents who agreed with the pick identified themselves as Democrats, the majority of those who disagreed identified themselves as Republicans. Among those who agreed, 53 percent identified themselves as Democrats, with 15 percent saying they’re Republicans and 20 percent describing themselves as Independents or belonging to some other party. Among those who disagreed, 10 percent said they’re Democrats, 23 percent said Republicans and 17 percent said Independents or members of another party. The breakdown among those who weren’t sure about 12 Years a Slave‘s win was: 37 percent (Democrats), 61 percent (Republicans) and 63 percent (Independent/Other).
Among ideology, the majority of those who agreed said they were liberal, and the majority of those who disagreed said they were conservative. Among those who agreed with 12 Years a Slave‘s win, 65 percent identified themselves as very liberal, 47 percent identified themselves as somewhat liberal, 36 percent said they’re moderate, 14 percent called themselves conservative and 8 percent called themselves very conservative. The breakdown among those who disagreed was: 8 percent (very liberal), 14 percent (somewhat liberal), 11 percent (moderate), 23 percent (somewhat conservative), 25 percent (very conservative). The breakdown among those who weren’t sure was: 27 percent (very liberal), 39 percent (somewhat liberal), 53 percent (moderate), 63 percent (somewhat conservative), 68 percent (very conservative).
The majority of those who agreed with 12 Years‘ Oscar win voted for Barack Obama, while the majority of those who disagreed voted for Mitt Romney. When broken down by whom survey respondents agreeing with 12 Years‘ win voted for in 2012, 50 percent said they voted for Obama, 13 percent said they voted for Romney and 20 percent said they voted for someone else. Among those who disagreed with 12 Years‘ win, 9 percent voted for Obama, 24 percent voted for Romney and 19 percent voted for someone else. The 2012 voting breakdown among those who weren’t sure about 12 Years‘ Oscar win was: 41 percent (Obama), 63 percent (Romney) and 61 percent (other).
The majority of those who agreed with 12 Years‘ Oscar win identified themselves as African-American, while the majority of those who disagreed identified themselves as white. Among those who agreed with the win, 44 percent identified themselves as Hispanic, 25 percent identified themselves as white, 62 percent said they’re African-American and 29 percent said they’re members of another race. Among those who disagreed with 12 Years‘ best picture victory, 13 percent identified themselves as Hispanic, 18 percent said they’re white, 10 percent identified themselves as African-Americans and 15 percent said they’re members of another race. The breakdown among those who weren’t sure about 12 Years‘ win was: 43 percent (Hispanic), 57 percent (white), 29 percent (African-American) and 57 percent (other).
Meanwhile, here is spirited video of Jon Stewart ‘debating’ Judge Andrew Napolitano on whether the Civil War was necessary to end slavery.
When Napolitano gets the better of him on a point, Stewart leverages the emotional pull-strings of his audience (he’s on home turf here),
Had there been more time, perhaps Napolitano could have gone into the fact that the 75% of white southerners had nothing to do with slavery, yet suffered greatly in the wake of the Civil War. He could’ve expanded with examples of Union rape and murder of southern women, the deliberate destruction of entire Southern cities, and examples of Reconstruction-era abuse.
Napolitano is fighting not only Stewart and his audience of sycophants, but a cleaned up, Hollywood-ized narrative about the history of the Civil War, and a completely mythologized public understanding of St. Lincoln.
