Close to a quarter of Americans are open to state secession

While Scotland voted "no" on independence, nearly a quarter of Americans might have voted "yes" if given the chance: Some 23.9 percent of Americans support or would seriously consider the idea of their state seceding from the union. Though support is a little higher among Republicans (29.7 percent) than Democrats, even 21 percent of President Obama's party is open to secession. Strongest regional support came from the Southwest — a region including the ever-independent Texas — where more than a third responded favorably to seceding.

Independence supporters expressed feelings of disenfranchisement and dissatisfaction with both major parties. "I have totally, completely lost faith in the federal government, the people running it, whether Republican, Democrat, independent, whatever," said Texan Mark Denny. Another supporter of state secession, Roy Gustafson, struck a similar note: "I don't think it makes a whole lot of difference anymore which political party is running things. Nothing gets done. The state would be better off handling things on its own."

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