Alabamians know woefully little about politics.

When asked to identify the speaker, 49 percent of 407 adult residents correctly named Pelosi, the results show. Asked to do the same for one or both of Alabama’s senators, 47 percent named Jeff Sessions, R-Mobile, while 44 percent came up with Richard Shelby, R-Tuscaloosa.

If it furnished any consolation, their standing compared favorably with that of U.S. Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts and U.S. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev. Although the two rank among the leading lights of the federal government, barely one in 10 Alabamians could name either.

Only about one-third identified Attorney General Alberto Gonzales, despite the barrage of unfavorable publicity he has endured over the firing of eight federal prosecutors. While more than half of Alabamians correctly matched Birmingham native Condoleezza Rice with her post as secretary of state, only Vice President Dick Cheney came close to universal recognition.

Now in office for more than six years, Cheney is regularly described as the most powerful vice president in history. More than four out of five respondents could name him.

More than one-quarter of those initially called by the polling group hung up by the third question, [USA Polling Group Director Keith] Nicholls said, because “they didn’t want to embarrass themselves.” Normally, the hang-up rate is below 10 percent, he said.

Flat out embarrassing.  I would bet a tall stack of money that if they had asked about that Mangina or Sunjuice or whatever the hell that goofy looking guy on American Idol is named they would have gotten +75% knowledgeable responses.  These are probably the people who vote straight ticket.

I did like this little gem:

And because Republicans as a group tend to be slightly better educated and more politically attuned, Nicholls said, they consistently outperformed Democrats in the poll.

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This entry was posted by Brian on Sunday, April 8th, 2007 at 7:31 pm and is filed under Alabama, Politics. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site. Please note the copyright policy.