A Confederate flag flies in the infield as cars come out of turn one during a NASCAR auto race at Talladega Superspeedway in Talladega, Ala., in October 2007.
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The results suggest an about-face in public opinion following a church massacre of nine African Americans by a shooter who apparently embraced the banner and the racism that, for a few, it connotes. “They also were for the rule of law and believed that probate judges and clerks should be required to issue marriage licenses”, Huffmon said.
Nearly half of the people polled said they disapproved of the flag before this summer, but a 2014 poll shows only one-third thought it should be taken from Statehouse grounds at that time. When a similar question was asked in the latest survey, the margin was about 2 to 1 in opposition to the flag flying (61 percent to 32 percent).
“It shows that despite a few thinking that I like the flag, it’s a different symbol for me”.
Most South Carolinians no longer think the Confederate flag should be flown on their statehouse grounds.
The Confederate flag was added to Georgia’s state flag in 1956 and was removed in 2003, though Georgia’s state flags have had a few resemblance to the Confederate Stars and Bars flag since 1879.
8 – the percentage of Republicans in South Carolina who identify as Tea Party members.
The General Assembly received a stamp of approval from 45% of respondents. Nearly half of those who lean GOP said that if it were left to their personal choice, they’d let the flag continue to fly.
Governor Nikki Haley, who strongly urged legislators to take down the Confederate battle flag, has a 55% approval rating, almost identical to her overall approval rating in March.
“The Confederate flag debate in South Carolina might have increased the social stigma of supporting the flag”, pollster Scott Clement wrote in The Washington Post.
Among Republicans, her approval rate sits at 68 percent, which is 10 points lower than her approval rating in March – before the shooting and the push to remove the flag.
The change in views among South Carolina residents mirrors a dramatic shift in the nation as a whole.
Quantifying social desirability bias is hard outside an experimental setting, but one result mentioned prominently in Winthrop’s release raises an eyebrow.
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Winthrop surveyed 963 South Carolinians by landline and cell phones between September 20-27 for the poll.
