If it wasn't so tragic for American Democracy in its implications this kind of ignorance in the Deep South would be almost laughable.
Other notes from Alabama and Mississippi
-There's considerable skepticism about Barack Obama's religion with Republican voters in them. In Mississippi only 12% of voters think Obama's a Christian to 52% who think he's a Muslim and 36% who are not sure. In Alabama just 14% think Obama's a Christian to 45% who think he's a Muslim and 41% who aren't sure.
Mitt Romney dominates the 'Obama's a Christian' vote in both states. He leads Santorum 42-28 with those folks in Mississippi and has a 38-21 lead over him with them in Alabama. In Mississippi Newt's winning the 'Obama's a Muslim' vote 39-28, but in Alabama it's a three way tie with all of the leading candidates at 31%.
Buying into the far right's attempts to demonize this president seems to be informed by prejudice as much as the dominance of right wing narrative in the Deep South's politics.
There was one glimmer of good news from these southern Republicans.
-We continue to see evidence that Rush Limbaugh's damaged his brand over the last few weeks. His favorability is only slightly over 50% in these two states where the Republican electorate is incredibly conservative- he's at 53/33 in Alabama and 51/30 in Mississippi. Given that our last national survey on Limbaugh, taken a few years ago, found him at 80/12 with Republicans it's safe to say he's fallen a long way in these states.
There is a huge gulf between how southern Whites and Blacks view Obama, but of course PPP was polling only Republican voters here.
I'd be very interested to know how prevalent watching Fox News is among southern Republicans who doubt President Obama's religious affiliation.