Rural skepticism about coronavirus and covid-19 driven by ideology, not geography, NBC-Wall St. Journal poll shows

Rural Americans' greater skepticism about the coronavirus threat is driven by ideology, not geography, Chuck Todd, Mark Murray, Carrie Dann and Melissa Holzberg of NBC News report in this morning's "First Read."

"Our recent NBC News/WSJ poll turned some heads when it showed WIDELY different partisan reactions to the coronavirus, with Democratic voters much more concerned about the outbreak than Republican respondents," they write. "But couldn’t the difference also be geographical – that all voters in urban areas (regardless of party) are more concerned about the coronavirus than rural voters (regardless of party)?"

The answer is no, they say, giving breakdowns form the poll, which was taken March 11-13:

Are you worried that someone in your immediate family with catch the coronavirus?
All voters: 53 percent
Urban Democrats: 70 percent
Suburban Democrats: 68 percent
Rural Democrats: 65 percent
Urban Republicans: 44 percent
Suburban Republicans: 37 percent
Rural Republicans: 41 percent

Have you stopped or do you plan to stop attending large public gatherings?
All voters: 47 percent
Urban Democrats: 59 percent
Suburban Democrats: 63 percent
Rural Democrats: 59 percent
Urban Republicans: 32 percent
Suburban Republicans: 28 percent
Rural Republicans: 30 percent