Many Lack Basic Knowledge About GOP Candidates, Including Republicans
Many voters are uninformed on the basic facts about the Republican candidates running for president or the early primary calendar, according to the Pew Research Center.
According to a Pew poll the majority of voters, 69 percent, know that Newt Gingrich served as Speaker of the House. But only 53 percent know that Mitt Romney served as governor in Massachusetts.
Less than half of registered voters know that South Carolina will be the next primary after Iowa and New Hampshire, according to a survey conducted the week before New Hampshire’s primary on Tuesday.
Even though Ron Paul performed well in the early GOP contests, only about 44 percent know Paul as the Republican candidate who opposes U.S. military involvement in Afghanistan.
There were also substantial differences in knowledge by age, education and gender, and registered voters are generally more informed about GOP candidates and the primary process than non-voters.
On average, 43 percent of voters answer at least three of the four questions correctly in the knowledge survey, compared to just 16 percent of non-voters. Among the general public about 35 percent answered three of the four questions correctly.
Voters under the age of 30 were significantly less likely than older adults to know about the Gingrich’s and Romney’s background, and that South Carolina is the state for the next GOP primary, however young and old voters performed equally well on the question about Ron Paul being against military involvement in Afghanistan.
College graduates were more likely to know the four questions compared to those who have not graduated. On average 61 percent of college graduates answered at least three of the four questions correctly, compared to just 32 percent of those with a high school degree or less.
Men are also more likely to know facts about the GOP candidates and primaries. Fifty-six percent of men answered three of the four questions correctly, compared to women at just 32 percent.
Pew pointed out that less than half of all Republican or Republican leaning voters got 3 or more questions correct on the survey.