A news analysis from Reuters finds that almost 1/4 of Americans want their state to seceed from the United States.
Reuters has been running an online poll asking "Do you support of opposed the idea of your state peacefully withdrawing from the United States of America and the federal government?" So far, 23.9% say they are inclined to leave the United States.
Secession got more support from Republicans than Democrats, more from right- than left-leaning independents, more from younger than older people, more from lower- than higher-income brackets, more from high school than college grads. But there was a surprising amount of support in every group and region, especially the Rocky Mountain states, the Southwest and the old Confederacy, but also in places like Illinois and Kansas. And of the people who said they identified with the Tea Party, supporters of secession were actually in the majority, with 53 percent.
Reuters made some follow-up phone calls to some of the respondents to find out what was really behind their wish to leave the U.S. They found that people are angry at the federal government for a number of reasons.
Those we spoke to seemed to have answered as they did as a form of protest that was neither red nor blue but a polychromatic riot — against a recovery that has yet to produce jobs, against jobs that don’t pay, against mistreatment of veterans, against war, against deficits, against hyper-partisanship, against political corruption, against illegal immigration, against the assault on marriage, against the assault on same-sex marriage, against government in the bedroom, against government in general — the president, Congress, the courts and both political parties.
