Republicans these days, more than ever, have cast an air of mystique over whether or not the new era of right-wing theology is peripheral or party-line. This poll seeks to clarify the positions of an increasingly lunatic faction. Some of the more disturbing results:

63% of Republicans believe Barack Obama is a socialist. (Another 16% are not sure.)

53% of Republicans believe Sarah Palin is more qualified to be president than Obama. (Another 33% are not sure.)

31% of Republicans believe Barack Obama is “a racist who hates white people.” (Another 33% are not sure.)

73% of Republicans believe openly gay men and women should not be allowed to teach in public schools.

77% of Republicans believe students should be taught that the book of Genesis in the Bible explains how God created the world.

76% of Republicans believe abortion is murder, but 91% support the death penalty.

There’s not much I can say to add commentary to these numbers, but Andrew Sullivan’s take on this does a fantastic job of articulating my gut reaction: “The hatred of Obama, a clearly decent and obviously Christian man, is not about him. It’s about them. It’s about their resentment of a man who has integrated his own identity and made a place for himself in a pluralist world. They cannot do that, so, like Palin, they invent a world of ancient virtues and moral absolutes that they routinely fail to live up to in reality. I mean: look at Palin’s family and Obama’s. Whose is the more traditional? And yet Palin is allegedly the avatar of family values — and Obama is a commie subversive.”