Secession Gaining Traction in GOP?

Photo used under a Creatives Commons license by Flickr user <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/8706285@N06/3921597827/" target="_blank">sylvester75117</a>

Fight disinformation: Sign up for the free Mother Jones Daily newsletter and follow the news that matters.


In a hypothetical general election matchup in the Texas gubernatorial race, Republican activist Debra Medina leads Houston mayor Bill White, the presumptive Democratic nominee, by three points, 41-38, according to a Rasumussen survey released yesterday. This wouldn’t mean all that much, considering that Medina currently trails Gov. Rick Perry by 28 points with just one month to go until the primaryexcept for one thing: Medina has touted, as a central issue of her campaign, the supremacy of state sovereignty under the 10th amendment. Last summer, Medina headlined a pro-secession rally at the Texas capitol, where she told the assembled crowd: “We are aware that stepping off into secession may, in fact, be a bloody war. We are aware. We understand that the tree of freedom is occasionally watered with the blood of tyrants and patriots.” (Medina was forced to watch a clip of those comments at the final gubernatorial debate, which was awkward.)

According to a Daily Kos/ Research 2000 poll released earlier this week, though, Medina’s views, while in the minority, resonate with a sizable chunk of the Republican electorate. Twenty-three percent of self-identified Republicans answered in the affirmative to the question “Do You Believe Your State Should Secede From the United States?” Another 19 percent weren’t sure. (Also of note: 8 percent of respondents would be in favor of allowing openly gay teachers to teach in public schools. So at least they’re tolerant.) In the GOP’s defense, the poll questions read like an attempt to bait respondents into taking incendiary views; and “self-identified Republicans” is a more narrowly defined group than actual “Republican voters.” But those numbers are pretty grim any way you spin them.

 

Even the mild-mannered dairy farmers of Vermont seem to have gotten into the secession actionas a recent Time article noted, the Vermont secession movement is supporting nine candidates for statewide office this November.

DONALD TRUMP & DEMOCRACY

Mother Jones was founded to do journalism differently. We stand for justice and democracy. We reject false equivalence. We go after stories others don’t. We’re a nonprofit newsroom, because the kind of truth-telling investigations we do doesn’t happen under corporate ownership.

And we need your support like never before, to fight back against the existential threats American democracy faces. Fundraising for nonprofit media is always a challenge, and we need all hands on deck right now. We have no cushion; we leave it all on the field.

It’s reader support that enables Mother Jones to report the facts that are too difficult, expensive, or inconvenient for other news outlets to uncover. Please help with a donation today if you can—even a few bucks will make a real difference. A monthly gift would be incredible.

payment methods

DONALD TRUMP & DEMOCRACY

Mother Jones was founded to do journalism differently. We stand for justice and democracy. We reject false equivalence. We go after stories others don’t. We’re a nonprofit newsroom, because the kind of truth-telling investigations we do doesn’t happen under corporate ownership.

And we need your support like never before, to fight back against the existential threats American democracy faces. Fundraising for nonprofit media is always a challenge, and we need all hands on deck right now. We have no cushion; we leave it all on the field.

It’s reader support that enables Mother Jones to report the facts that are too difficult, expensive, or inconvenient for other news outlets to uncover. Please help with a donation today if you can—even a few bucks will make a real difference. A monthly gift would be incredible.

payment methods

We Recommend

Latest

Sign up for our free newsletter

Subscribe to the Mother Jones Daily to have our top stories delivered directly to your inbox.

Get our award-winning magazine

Save big on a full year of investigations, ideas, and insights.

Subscribe

Support our journalism

Help Mother Jones' reporters dig deep with a tax-deductible donation.

Donate