Poll finds Republicans would stay and fight, Dems less so

It’s not exactly breaking news that there are profound differences between Republicans and Democrats. We see them every single day, especially in how we view the Second Amendment.

Now, understand, there are pro-gun Democrats. There aren’t many of them, but they do exist and I’m more than prepared to stand side-by-side with them to defend our right to keep and bear arms.

But they’re the minority in their party.

Yet the Second Amendment was meant as a bulwark against tyranny, either domestic or from foreign invasion, which brings us to Ukraine. What if something like that were to happen here. Who would stay and fight and who would flee the country.

Well, Quinnipiac decided to ask in a recent poll, and the results are fascinating.

As the world witnesses what is happening to Ukraine, Americans were asked what they would do if they were in the same position as Ukrainians are now: stay and fight or leave the country?
A majority (55 percent) say they would stay and fight, while 38 percent say they would leave the country.
Republicans say 68 – 25 percent and Independents say 57 – 36 percent they would stay and fight,
while Democrats say 52 – 40 percent they would leave the country.

“When confronted with a terrible hypothetical that would put them in the shoes of the Ukrainians, Americans say they would stand and fight rather than seek safety in another country,” added Malloy.

Nearly half of Americans (49 percent) say the attack on Ukraine has contributed to them feeling anxious, while half (50 percent) say it has not.

1,374 U.S. adults nationwide were surveyed from March 4th – 6th with a margin of error of +/- 2.6 percentage points.

So more than two-thirds of Republicans and more than half of independents would stay and fight for their homes compared to more than half of all Democrats who would run.

Fascinating.

Now, time to inject a little reality into the discussion. This is a poll. This is what people say they would do while everything is nice and peaceful here. A lot of people who say they will stay and fight would run and some who say they would run would probably stay and fight, though I think far more of the latter would hold to what they told the pollsters.

See, it’s easy to talk about fighting when there’s no threat.

Further, some are answering in an “all else being equal” kind of thing when, in reality, they know they’re not physically able to fight.

That said, when it’s your home, anyone who can probably should stay and defend it. If a people won’t, you kind of deserve what happens.

Ukrainians are defending the hell out of their homes right now and they’re helping to make Russia pay for their invasion. Republicans say they’d do the same thing.

Most Democrats, however, would run.

Interestingly, though, almost half said they’d stay and fight as well. The reason that’s interesting is that there’s no way 40 percent of Democrats support our Second Amendment rights. Not based on the polling we’ve seen from them. So those who say they’re willing to fight don’t actually want anyone to have the means to fight with.

I guess they expect the military here to hand out weapons like the Ukrainians did, but that’s not a particularly smart assumption to make.

Then again, maybe some of that 40 percent are rethinking their support for gun control right about now.