Update:Follow up post. This Michael Lind piece bemoaning liberal contempt for white Southerners made me want to look a bit deeper and compare interregional differences and similarities. I went into the General Social Survey and limited responses to whites only and compared by region. The regions in the GSS are those of the US Census:
I combined New England & Mid Atlantic as the Northeast, the North Central regions as the Midwest, Mountain and Pacific as the West, and finally the other three regions as the South. Results below....
The correlations between the regions are: Northeast & Midwest, 0.95 Northeast & South, 0.87 Northeast & West, 0.96 Midwest & South, 0.96 Midwest & West, 0.98 South & West, 0.93 There's really a lot of agreement.
NortheastMidwestSouthWest
God
Don't Believe4.13.21.53.4
No Way To Find Out6.75.53.86
Some Higher Power10.811.86.314.6
Believe Sometimes6.34.52.94.5
Believe But Doubts22.818.914.318.3
Know God Exists49.35671.153.2
Party
Democrat42.237.334.641.9
Independent21.219.418.116.6
Republican35.643.247.341.5
Ideology
Liberal29.324.619.228.5
Moderate41.739.735.735.6
Conservative28.935.74536
Religion
Protestant29.252.766.944.9
Catholic45.426.917.321.3
Jewish4.91.51.91.9
No Religion15.615.710.523
Education
Less Than HS11.712.313.69.4
HS4956.953.251.2
Junior College7.87.57.88.9
Bachelor19.415.317.321.1
Graduate12.288.19.4
Intelligence
Dumb (WORDSUM 0-4)15.315.717.411.4
Average (WORDSUM 5-7)5561.557.255.6
Smart (WORDSUM 8-10)29.722.725.333
Allow To Speak....
Atheist79.781.474.485.5
Racist62.366.663.266.7
Communist72.17365.278.4
Militarist70.271.265.276.2
Homosexual89.48678.888.9
Protestants
Fundamentalists2746.659.941.7
Moderate28.428.815.533.6
Liberal44.724.524.624.6
Bible Is....
Word of God19.427.138.124.1
Inspired Word56.155.648.949.1
Book of Fables22.715.911.824.4
Can People Be Trusted...
Can Trust40.439.634.943.1
Cannot Trust51.956.359.951.2
Depends7.64.15.25.7
Great Deal of Confidence In....
Scientific Community46.4444249.3
Military44.148.854.143.1
Organized Labor13.712.611.312.7
Organized Religion23.526.526.519.9
Banks24.827.329.625.2
How Do People Get Ahead
Hard Work62.568.468.769.5
Both Equally26.120.522.321
Luck or Help11.511.199.5
Taxes On Rich Are....
Much Too High12.187.58.5
Too High16.712.41914.2
About Right21.325.928.227.3
Too Low294032.228.5
Much Too Low2113.713.111.5
Approve Ban Mandatory School Prayer50.74334.751.6
Premarital Sex Always Wrong14.322.733.722.4
Homosexual Sex Always Wrong40.554.865.547.6
Make Porn Illegal32.636.744.632
Strongly Favor Spanking of Children17.424.632.123.6
Does a Person Have Right to End Life if Terminally Ill?70.564.85769
Reads Newspaper Everyday46.342.537.137.4
Poor Americans Need to Help Themselves, No Gov. Aid25.829.933.830.4
People Should Pay For Medical Care Themselves, No Gov. Aid14.318.820.517.5
No Special Treatment for Blacks, No Gov. Aid53.156.261.455.2
No One In Family Belongs To Union75.881.890.783.6
Favor Law Against Interracial Marriage8.910.3185.5
Yes – Abortion On Demand49.236.733.949.4
Renter24.824.621.831.3
Favor Capital Punishment68.474.678.775.5
Favor Gun Permit88.478.277.276.1
Legalize Marijuana37.835.530.541.4
Attended Religious Service Last Week29.731.237.726.9
