Depending on how you ask the question, small to large majorities of Republican primary voters expressed have significant contempt for Muslims and more or less agree with everything Donald Trump or Ben Carson has said about them.
For their part, the Carson campaign appears to be banking on this.
His campaign manager Barry Bennett told The Associated Press on Monday: "While the left wing is huffing and puffing over it, Republican primary voters are with us at least 80-20."
"People in Iowa particularly, are like, 'Yeah! We're not going to vote for a Muslim either," Bennett said. "I don't mind the hubbub. It's not hurting us, that's for sure."
He's not wrong.
This isn't exactly a revelation, but what's interesting to me is seeing a campaign openly admit that they're banking on bigotry. What will be even more interesting to see is whether or not the political press and beltway media will admit it.
Our political press goes to great lengths to avoid ascribing bigoted views to Republican voters, but if Ben Carson's campaign manager says 80 percent of primary voters agree with the candidate, does that change things? Most polls corroborate Bennett's claim.
Many people in the political media, including some I ordinarily agree with, pronounced Donald Trump's campaign dead last Friday after he nodded along with unhinged audience members, but the truth is Trump may not have gone far enough.
I've seen no evidence that it's possible be too bigoted or too racist for primary voters.