(Not) The Reality-Based Community

It’s been blogged about before but the PIPA report “Separate Realities of Bush and Kerry Supporters,” is an interesting piece of reading. In many ways, it seems almost an extension of NYT Magazine article by Ron Suskind. I’m not sure if it’s mystifying or frightening. One things for sure. There are a lot of people out there who’ve drunk long and deep from the Kool-Aid.

Here’s just a few bullet points on how Bush & Kerry suporters differ in their beliefs.

• Even after the final report of Charles Duelfer to Congress saying that Iraq did not have a significant WMD program, 72% of Bush supporters continue to believe that Iraq had actual WMD (47%) or a major program for developing them (25%).
• Fifty-six percent assume that most experts believe Iraq had actual WMD and 57% also assume, incorrectly, that Duelfer concluded Iraq had at least a major WMD program.
• Despite the report of the 9/11 Commission saying there is no evidence Iraq was providing significant support to al Qaeda, 75% of Bush supporters believe Iraq was providing substantial support to al Qaeda (30% of Kerry supporters), with 20% believing that Iraq was directly involved in 9/11.
• Asked in August what the 9/11 Commission had concluded, 55% of Bush supporters said that it had concluded that Iraq was providing substantial support to al Qaeda. Twenty-seven percent of Kerry supporters assumed this to be the case.

What’s even more interesting is just how well each candidate’s supporters know their man’s position on any given issu, as this chart shows.

It’s worthwhile to take a look at the whole report for yourself.