Citing a Rasmussen poll Greg Sargent took note of yesterday, which indicated that 22 percent of Americans currently have a favorable view of BP, Barbara Morrill at Daily Kos asks who these 22 percent of Americans are.

Using the crosstabs from the poll (premium account required), I put together this chart to answer Morrill's question:

Those most likely to view BP favorably are, respectively: Republicans, conservatives, Americans over age 65, whites, and males. Those least likely to view BP favorably are, respectively: liberals, blacks, Democrats, Americans between the ages of 18-29, and females.

Interestingly, the demographics of those most likely to view BP favorably lines up closely with the demographics of those who supported offshore drilling in early April, prior to the disaster in the Gulf of Mexico. An analysis I conducted on April 8 found that offshore drilling was most popular among Republicans, the elderly, whites, and wealthy Americans. On BP favorability, a few key statistics stick out:

• Conservatives are four times more likely to view BP favorably as liberals are
• Republicans are more than twice as likely to view BP favorably as Democrats are
• Whites are nearly twice as likely to view BP favorably as blacks are

Meanwhile, BP's CEO Tony Hayward is busy thanking the United States for its strong support of the company.

Below, I've broken down the crosstabs by the six criteria Rasmussen provided data for.

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