Imagine my surprise that linking to a piece about a disturbing Daily Kos/Research 2000 poll of Republicans prompted several hyper-emotional meltdowns in our comments, and three hate mails so far today.

Apart from the insult-spewers, though, many readers wanted to know exactly which questions were asked, and where the samples came from. Today the full results from the poll are posted at Daily Kos, and the questions seem very straightforward.

Here’s the methodology used by Research 2000:

Methodology

DKOS REPUBLICAN POLL 2010

The Daily Kos Republican Poll was conducted by Research 2000 from January 20 through January 31, 2010. A total of 2003 self identified Republicans were interviewed by telephone.

The margin for error, according to standards customarily used by statisticians, is no more than plus or minus 2% percentage points. This means that there is a 95 percent probability that the “true” figure would fall within that range if the entire self identified Republican population were sampled. The margin for error is higher for any demographic subgroup, such as for gender or region.

GEOGRAPHIC BREAKDOWN:

Northeast:
DC, ME, VT, NY, MD, PA, CT, DE, MA, NH, RI, WV, NJ

South:
FL, NC, SC, AL, MS, GA, VA, TN, KY, LA, AR, TX

Midwest:
IL, MN, MI, OH, WI, IA, MO, KS, IN, ND, SD, OK, NE

West:
NM, CA, OR, WA, AK, HI, MT, ID, UT, NV, AZ, WY, CO

And the results are disturbing indeed. If this poll is accurate (and Research 2000 has a good reputation for accuracy) the Republican base has an absurdly high percentage of wackos of all stripes, from religious fanatics to creationists to secessionists to conspiracy theorists. This is more evidence that the perception of a Republican base dominated by religious right extremists is grounded in solid reality.

Some results:

QUESTION: Should Barack Obama be impeached, or not?

YES: 39%
NO: 32%
NOT SURE: 29%

QUESTION: Do you believe Barack Obama was born in the United States, or not?

NO: 36%
YES: 42%
NOT SURE: 22%

QUESTION: Do you think Barack Obama is a socialist?

YES: 63%
NO: 21%
NOT SURE: 16%

QUESTION: Do you believe Barack Obama wants the terrorists to win?

YES: 24%
NO: 43%
NOT SURE: 33%

QUESTION: Do you believe Sarah Palin is more qualified to be President than Barack Obama?

YES: 53%
NO: 14%
NOT SURE: 33%

QUESTION: Do you believe Barack Obama is a racist who hates White people?

YES: 31%
NO: 36%
NOT SURE: 33%

QUESTION: Do you believe your state should secede from the United States?

YES: 23%
NO: 58%
NOT SURE: 19%

QUESTION: Would you favor or oppose giving illegal immigrants now living in the United States the right to live here legally if they pay a fine and learn English?

FAVOR: 26%
OPPOSE: 59%
NOT SURE: 15%

QUESTION: Should openly gay men and women be allowed to serve in the military?

YES: 26%
NO: 55%
NOT SURE: 19%

QUESTION: Should same sex couples be allowed to marry?

YES: 7%
NO: 77%
NOT SURE: 16%

QUESTION: Should gay couples receive any state or federal benefits?

YES: 11%
NO: 68%
NOT SURE: 21%

QUESTION: Should openly gay men and women be allowed to teach in public schools?

YES: 8%
NO: 73%
NOT SURE: 19%

QUESTION: Should sex education be taught in the public schools?

YES: 42%
NO: 51%
NOT SURE: 7%

QUESTION: Should public school students be taught that the book of Genesis in the Bible explains how God created the world?

YES: 77%
NO: 15%
NOT SURE: 8%

QUESTION: Should contraceptive use be outlawed?

YES: 31%
NO: 56%
NOT SURE: 13%

QUESTION: Do you believe the birth control pill is abortion?

YES: 34%
NO: 48%
NOT SURE: 18%

QUESTION: Do you consider abortion to be murder?

YES: 76%
NO: 8%
NOT SURE: 16%

QUESTION: Do you support the death penalty?

YES: 91%
NO: 4%
NOT SURE: 5%

QUESTION: Do you believe that the only way for an individual to go to heaven is though Jesus Christ, or can one make it to heaven through another faith?

CHRIST: 67%
OTHER: 15%
NOT SURE: 18%

These numbers are astounding. Social conservatism has a death grip on the GOP.

I mean — 77% of the Republican base wants creationism taught in public schools? And not the “intelligent design” type of creationism, but Biblical literalist the-earth-is-6000-years-old creationism?

77%?

Bad, bad craziness. This is why I had to draw the line and say, “No, I do NOT subscribe to this dysfunctional world view.”