Poll Watch: Rasmussen (R) Survey on Constitutional Rights

Rasmussen (R) Poll on Constitutional Rights

I am going to read you a short list of freedoms contained in the Bill of Rights of the U.S. Constitution. For each please let me know how important you think this freedom is. 

Freedom of Speech

• Very important 85%
• Somewhat important 14%
• Not very important 1%
• Not at all important 0%
  

Freedom of Religion

• Very important 75%
• Somewhat important 16%
• Not very/Not at all important 7%
  

Freedom of the Press 

• Very important 64%
• Somewhat important 28%
• Not very/Not at all important 7%
  

The Right to Bear Arms  

• Very important 49%
• Somewhat important 19%
• Not very important 19%
• Not at all important 11%
  

National survey of 1,000 likely voters was conducted December 8-9, 2012. The margin of error is +/- 3 percentage points.
 
Inside the numbers: 

There are strong ideological differences of opinion when it comes to these basic freedoms. Liberals place less importance on all four than conservatives do. The most dramatic difference is over the right to bear arms: 90% of conservatives view that constitutional right as at least somewhat important, but 51% of liberals do not. Moderates generally fall somewhere in between on all four rights.

There are significant partisan differences, too. Seventy-one percent (71%) of Republicans and 70% of voters not affiliated with either major party, for example, consider freedom of press to be very important, but just 53% of Democrats agree. Seventy-five percent (75%) of GOP voters and 52% of unaffiliated voters rate the right to bear arms as Very Important, a view shared by only 25% of Democrats.

Voters 40 and over are far more likely than younger voters to consider all four freedoms – speech, religion, press and right to bear arms – to be Very Important.