Evolution is a signal for real Republican populism

New York Magazine has a rundown of the attitudes of some of the G.O.P. candidates for the nomination in regards to evolution. Remember, this is an issue which is split down the middle in the American populace, but elites have a strong skew toward accepting evolution. This is probably why despite a majority Creationist primary electorate in 2008 the majority of Republican candidates still agreed with the evolutionary position. In 2012 it looks like the Creationism or semi-Creationist contingent is going to get larger.

In the General Social Survey they asked in the late 2000s whether respondents accepted that “humans developed from animals.” The response was dichotomous. Here are some results for various population groups:

	Accepts human development from animals
Democrat	59
Independent	53
Republican	42
Liberal	69
Moderate	52
Conservative	39
White	54
Black	35
Hispanic	52
No high school diploma	42
High school diploma	46
Junior college	53
Bachelor	63
Graduate	72
New England	81
Mid Atlantic	60
Great Lakes	52
Upper Midwest	54
South Atlantic	46
East South Central	29
Southwest	38
Mountain	53
Pacific	64
Protestant	35
Catholic	65
Jewish	79
No religion	79
Age 18-34	58
Age 36-64	51
Age 65-*	43