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Poll: 31% Of Texans Say State Has Right To Secede -- 18% Would Vote In Favor Of Doing It
Here's some good news (kind of) for the cause of Constitutional Unionism: According to a new Rasmussen poll, only 31% of likely voters in Texas think the state has the right to secede.
When asked the question, "Do individual states have the right to leave the United States and form an independent country?" the numbers come out at 31% Yes to 55% No.
Rasmussen also asked this follow-up question: "If you could vote on the issue, would you vote for Texas to remain in the United States or to secede from the United States and form an independent country of Texas?" The numbers come out at 18% for secession, to 76% against it.
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Josh
Matt
Eric
Brian
Memo to Texans:
You lost the Civil War. Get over it!
April 17, 2009 9:54 AM | Reply | Permalink
I currently live in Texas and I was raised here. What the current debate misses is the fact that many of us were taught in our public schools that Texas acquired several unique rights upon joining the US. Including both the right to leave and the right to split into 5 states. I do not know if this is *legally* correct. I have had enough Texas teachers tell me stupid and outright wrong things for me to doubt them on whether they are right or not, but this is what we were taught. Keep in mind that Texas has one of the poorer public school records of all the states. That is probably why the 31% number is so high.
April 17, 2009 1:36 PM | Reply | Permalink
Couple this with Texas politicians being incensed over the federal government meddling in their educational system and you get at the crux of the problem. Texans hate having to waste money on education.
April 17, 2009 10:12 AM | Reply | Permalink
I sure wouldn't be fighting in another civil war to keep these states in our union. Too bad we can't just vote them out.
April 17, 2009 10:22 AM | Reply | Permalink
If I understand Josh's Wikipedia link correctly and if it is accurate, we CAN vote them out just like Tom Delay said - abrogate the Treaty!!!
From the Cockroach's lips to God's ear
April 17, 2009 12:53 PM | Reply | Permalink
And this is a Ras issues poll, so the real numbers are probably in the range of 15/8%.
April 17, 2009 10:22 AM | Reply | Permalink
Still, by putting real numbers on the issue, Ras just now semi-legitimatized it.
Considering that the tea parties were on April 15 and they are coming out now with a poll based on the comments of one governor, Ras has entered the fine profession of ambulance chasing, hasn't it?
April 17, 2009 10:36 AM | Reply | Permalink
It's a start!
There's been no campaign until now. Perhaps my lifelong dream will be realized before I die
April 17, 2009 10:31 AM | Reply | Permalink
Don't let the screen door hit you on the way out.
April 17, 2009 10:35 AM | Reply | Permalink
No worries. That door's hinge is really squeaky so that it swings really slow. What you have to worry about is snagging your foot in the gaping hole in the screen made when the dog ran through it.
April 17, 2009 10:42 AM | Reply | Permalink
Memo to Texas: You controlled the federal government for the last 8 years.
Further memo to Texas: There has been a former Texas Congressman or a Former Texas Governor in the White House for 20 of the last 28 years!
Further, further memo to Texas: There has been a Texan in the White House for 36 of the last 56 years! 8 years of Ike, 8 years of LBJ, 12 years of H.W., and 8 years of W.
So if you don't like where the good ole U S of A is right now you got plenty of Texans to blame! You don't get to trash the place then walk away when its time to clean up!
April 17, 2009 11:03 AM | Reply | Permalink
Memo to i5kfun: George H.W. Bush is from Maine and George W. Bush is from Connecticut and both are carpet baggers.
April 17, 2009 12:35 PM | Reply | Permalink
Carpet Baggers or not, they are still Texans.
Oh, GWB spent about as much time in Texas as he did in all other state combined while President.
W ran for the House from Texas, ran the Texas Rangers, was elected Governor of Texas, and is now back living in Texas. You might be ashed of that, but facts are facts!
April 17, 2009 4:48 PM | Reply | Permalink
"Further, further memo to Texas: There has been a Texan in the White House for 36 of the last 56 years! 8 years of Ike, 8 years of LBJ, 12 years of H.W., and 8 years of W."
Well, you must have been educated in Texas. Ike was born in Texas, but left when still a baby, and was a Kansan.
Bush 41 was from Connecticut, as was Shrub. Which pretty much just leaves LBJ. Yeah, I know 41 and 43 play Texan, but when the heat's on, they leave for Maine.
April 17, 2009 11:16 AM | Reply | Permalink
Gotta say, if getting elected congressman from TX, much less Governor of the state, doesn't make you a "Texan", then what the hell does?
Sam Houston wasn't a Texan either by this reckoning.
April 17, 2009 3:11 PM | Reply | Permalink
I think it must be you who was educated in Texas with your narrow bigotry of what counts as a "Texan."
Ike was born in Texas, and spent a few stops on his military service in Texas. He was probably the best Republican President since Teddy, so maybe Texas' doesn't have to apologize for him.
Bush 41 was a congressman representing Texas' 7th district.
Bush 43 was the Governor of Texas before becoming President.
That to anyone, besides a bigoted Texan, makes all of them Texans!
April 17, 2009 11:23 AM | Reply | Permalink
I'd like to start a fund to help them secede. Where can we send our money? If they'd seceded a long time ago we wouldn't have George Bush. And can they take Georgia, Alabama and Mississippi with them when they go?
April 17, 2009 11:46 AM | Reply | Permalink
Send them money? Hell no, they owe US! They should be allowed to leave as long as they fork over all the federal money they've received since 1865. I'd say that's fair.
April 17, 2009 12:08 PM | Reply | Permalink
All of this "secession" bullshit just reeks of childishness. As i5kfun said, texans have had prominent positions in many recent administrations, now they don't and some people are doing the "we're taking our ball and leaving" schtick. Note to everyone "promoting" this meme: grow the fuck up already.
April 17, 2009 11:47 AM | Reply | Permalink
Lets get real - if Texas secedes how many military bases would be pulled out? And they would then need passports to get into the US. Maybe relatives would only be able to visit there once a year.
They can forget about the Commerce Clause in the Constitution. Next thing you will hear is that they want to break into 5 states - so who will take the border with Mexico. When people talk like this it means one of two things - either they are looking for votes or they are stupid - maybe the poll should have been on those questions.
April 17, 2009 11:50 AM | Reply | Permalink
Eh? The USA has military bases in dozens of foreign countries. Why should Texas be any different than Okinawa or the Philippines?
April 17, 2009 1:14 PM | Reply | Permalink
I think Texas needs to grow up. This has to be the biggest "sore loser" state in the country. Repuglicant's are grasping at straws.
First the TEA PARTY-- what a mockery-- and now SECESSION. Pretty soon we'll be into the COLD WAR period and the RED SCARE!
No new ideas means you have to try to revive some (dead) history.
April 17, 2009 12:04 PM | Reply | Permalink
How does all this secessionist ranting jibe with Sean Hannity's claim that the United States is the greatest best country God has ever given man?
April 17, 2009 12:11 PM | Reply | Permalink
Lets see if Sean has the courage call America "the greatest, best country God has ever given man on the face of the Earth" when there is a Democrat in the White House.
April 17, 2009 12:13 PM | Reply | Permalink
I don't know... how does Sean Hannity justify any of his thought-vomits? I think he probably just takes a forget-me-now and moves on with his polemic life.
I think that-- along these lines-- nitpicker had a good argument to this effect with a republican friend.
April 18, 2009 9:05 AM | Reply | Permalink
Hey all you Reep secessionists (they can't really be called "republicans" after all) who just last year sang along to Lee Greenwood's "God Bless the USA" at the RNC...allow me to reprint the lyrics for you, just to rub your little pig noses in it:
-----------------------------------------------------------
And I’m proud to be an American,
where at least I know I’m free.
And I wont forget the men who died,
who gave that right to me.
And I gladly stand up,
next to you and defend her still today.
‘Cause there ain’t no doubt I love this land,
God bless the USA.
From the lakes of Minnesota,
to the hills of Tennessee.
Across the plains of Texas,
From sea to shining sea.
From Detroit down to Houston,
and New York to L.A.
Well there's pride in every American heart,
and its time we stand and say.
That I’m proud to be an American
----------------------------------------------------------
Please note the "New York to L.A." lyric, Reeps. And please don't forget all these men who died for this country that you worshiped just last year but now are fully ready to abandon just because there's a black Democrat in the White House. One nation, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all - suck on it, losers! Go side with the Somali pirates like your buddy Rush Limbaugh, and see how that works out for you.
Yeah, the secessionist talk gets my dander up too, if you hadn't noticed.
April 17, 2009 12:26 PM | Reply | Permalink
April 17, 2009 12:56 PM | Reply | Permalink
Actually, if this poll were done in South Carolina or Virginia it might be the same or higher. It's a conceit that southerners retain despite the intervening 150 years since the Civil War -- that they have the right to say no to Washington. It's more cultural than political, though it's been a long time since it's been played so openly by a sitting pol like Perry.
April 17, 2009 12:31 PM | Reply | Permalink
Hear, hear! Everytime somebody says something really stupid, that person must be an ideologue or an idiot. Unless that person is in, from or once lived near Texas. Then the whole state's AFU and might as well be cut loose.
All that regional bigots succeed in doing with their badmouthing is to undo all of my work and the work of others who have put in long, unsung hours, trying to convince soft conservatives that liberals aren't their enemy. People start making blanket accusations and assmuptions about Texans in general and that just sends them scurrying back to the right wing and all of my work is for naught and no I have less credibility than before.
Thanks a lot.
April 17, 2009 12:41 PM | Reply | Permalink
Sorry Margaret this isn't your lucky day!
My brother and family live in Fort Bend County - Texas 22 - Tom DeLay country....democrats all..
I am fully LICENSED, LOCKED, LOADED and I've been bashing gleefully since Wednesday!!!!
I hate your state
April 17, 2009 1:08 PM | Reply | Permalink
WooHoo! 31 percent of Texans say that we have the right to secede and 18 percent would favor it. Those are George Bush/Dick Cheney numbers. That must be license to bash all Texans! That must mean that Texas wants to leave the union. Our (entirely powerless, whose approvals are also in the low 30s), governor says jump and all Texans fall sycophantically in line.
Funny, I don't recall a string of Carolina bashing when Mark Sanford says something stupid and I heard no advocating to throw Connecticut out of the Union when Lieberman was re-elected.
How big is the percentage of wingnuts in California? In New York state? In Ohio? Pennsylvania? Et cetera? My guess is the number would be very comparable to Texas and the rest of the country, (between a quarter and a third). The only reason you people badmouth Texas as a whole and all of the people therein because our idiot governor says something stupid is bigotry, pure and simple.
Regional bigotry may be regional but it's still bigotry. I worked my ass off to elect Obama and I and my neighbors combined to turn Bexar county blue but now I have to put up with a week's worth of Texas bashing because an idiot said something stupid that only the wingnuts agree with?
Your damned lucky I don't apply your standards to your states.
April 17, 2009 12:34 PM | Reply | Permalink
Margaret, the sad reality of the situation is that Texas is a red state. I'm happy and thankful that people like you are trying to turn that around by 2010, but most blue-staters perceive Texas politicians as being a little wacko--except for the Republican ones, which are totally wacko.
April 17, 2009 2:09 PM | Reply | Permalink
Explain to me why this is a good thing (kind of).
What's the upside to keeping these dolts in the union? States like Texas, Georgia, South Dakota and most others where secession is popular actually drag down the rest of the country in categories like education, infant mortality, and more. Let 'em go. Let them fend for themselves, I'm all for it. Most suck up more in federal dollars than they kick in -- not Texas or Georgia, at least as of 2005, but others for sure.
So long, suckers. We're sick of you. Send us a postcard and let us know how you like going it alone, but the entry fee to come back in, well, I think we're gonna make it pretty steep.
I'm not even kidding about this.
April 17, 2009 12:43 PM | Reply | Permalink
I guess there aren't any wingers in your state huh? Fuck off.
April 17, 2009 12:45 PM | Reply | Permalink
Take that poll in California or New Mexico or Colorado or any other blue state. I dare you. If the numbers aren't within a few percentage points of Texas, I'll shut up and you'll never have to put up with me again.
April 17, 2009 12:44 PM | Reply | Permalink
Margaret has no Tejas PRIDE!
Texas, it's a whole other country!
Says so right on the Texas Travel Site
http://www.traveltex.com/images/logo.jpg
All the live long days
The eyes of texas are upon you
And you cannot get away
Do not think you can escape them
From night till early in the morn
The eyes of texas are upon you
Till gabriel blows his horn
The eyes of texas are upon you
All the live long days
The eyes of texas are upon you
And you cannot get away
Do not think you can escape them
From night till early in the morn
The eyes of texas are upon you
Till gabriel blows his horn
April 17, 2009 1:01 PM | Reply | Permalink
HAPPY SAN JUACINTO DAY MARGARET!!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BcP3Rmhp_28&eurl=http%3A%2F%2Fvideo.google.com%2Fvideosearch%3Fq%3Dthe%2520eyes%2520of%2520texas%2520lyrics%26sourceid%3Dnavclient-ff%26rlz%3D1B3GGGL_e&feature=player_embedded
April 17, 2009 1:13 PM | Reply | Permalink
I dunno Margaret.
First, let me say that there is a lot of un-warranted Texas bashing, that should be focused instead on far-right-wing Texans.
I know of several blogs by and for Texans that can be properly classified as being on the forefront of the progressive movement. And my knowledge of blogs by Texans can be charitably described as "scant".
But I think if you were to take that poll in MA, you'd find you were wrong.
We've invested a lot of time and energy in the USA, starting in April of 1775.
April 17, 2009 1:21 PM | Reply | Permalink
JERN US!
April 17, 2009 12:52 PM | Reply | Permalink
I say let them secede. Just move that fence they want far enough north to keep them out of Oklahoma, etc.
April 17, 2009 1:12 PM | Reply | Permalink
Don't Impeach
SECEDE!
http://images3.cafepress.com/product/361400463v2_350x350_Front.jpg
April 17, 2009 1:35 PM | Reply | Permalink
Message to the 31%:
Feel free to leave this country. But let's remember that at least 55% of Texans, according to the poll, are loyal American citizens. You do not have the right to take them with you out of this country against their will; that's what got your ancestors in trouble a century and a half ago. Leave the country if you want; the Texans that are loyal Americans will be happy to see you go but don't want to go with you.
April 17, 2009 2:03 PM | Reply | Permalink
Maybe we could work out a deal with Mexico. Texas for Baja and we'll throw in Oklahoma. The only downside to the deal would be the cost of reconditioning and making Oklahoma attractive to Mexico.
April 17, 2009 2:22 PM | Reply | Permalink
Poll: 31% of Texans believe in Santa Claus and the Easter Bunny.
April 17, 2009 3:05 PM | Reply | Permalink