Business, Economics, Education, Media Criticism, Political Commentary, Social Commentary

Meaningless Polling

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I’ve long been saying that the “right track, wrong track” doesn’t really provide much insight into what voters will do, because there are multiple tracks. I’ve thought that the country has been on the wrong track all of my adult life, but that’s doesn’t necessarily mean I’m going to vote for change, if it’s the kind of change we get from Democrats, who are largely responsible for putting us on the wrong track.

But there’s another stupid polling question: Has Biden accomplished a lot? Apparently many people think so (including me) but does that mean that they approve of his “accomplishments”? I sure as hell don’t. There was a “debate” on Fox this morning between a DNC flack and a Republican in which the flack touted Biden’s “accomplishments,” which he defined as the legislative atrocities that his handlers and the Democrats in Congress managed to cram through. The fact that Congress has the power to legislate doesn’t mean that any legislation is, by definition, an accomplishment, and the notion that it is is stupid. The quality of the legislation, and its effects on the Republic, are much more important measures than simply whether a bill was passed.

I notice that Robert Cahaly at Trafalgar is talking about the number of “submerged” voters (what Nixon would have called the “Silent Majority”), who don’t put up yard signs, or talk about their politics, partly as a result of all of the vilification of Republicans by Democrats, and how even he can’t poll them. But it likely means that the “red wave” will be a tsunami.

[Monday-morning update]

Operation Demoralize has failed.

7 thoughts on “Meaningless Polling”

  1. Approve/disapprove questions have become a pet peeve of mine.

    “Do you approve of the job X is doing on Y” doesn’t provide information on why someone disapproves.

    McConnel has high disapprovals, but some people who disapprove support Chuck Schumer, while others who disapprove are angry that McConnell hasn’t had Schumer killed in a car bombing or something. Some who disapprove of Biden don’t like the way he’s wrecking the economy and destroying democracy, while others disapprove of Biden because he hasn’t yet implemented true communism and put Republicans in concentration camps.

    At least in times long past reporters weren’t dumb enough to ask questions like “Do you approve of the way General McClellan is running the Army of the Potomac?” If you phrase a question so that Lincoln, Jefferson Davis, Lee, Grant, and Sherman would all answer the same way, you haven’t asked a meaningful question.

  2. I notice that Robert Cahaly at Trafalgar is talking about the number of “submerged” voters (what Nixon would have called the “Silent Majority”), who don’t put up yard signs, or talk about their politics, partly as a result of all of the vilification of Republicans by Democrats, and how even he can’t poll them. But it likely means that the “red wave” will be a tsunami.

    Funny Trumpism has made them have no shame. I see far more yard signs for a candidate who is going to get trounced in November around here than their democratic opponent.

    Also seen a lot more support for Trump. Who as a candidate who got trounced by 30% in 2020 around these parts. I have not seen a Biden Yard sign in the last year. I know of far more vocal Trump people too. I know of several Trump signs. Tell me which side the Silent Majority is at least in my area.

    Cahaly a partisan hack , was proven wrong 5 times 2 years ago.

    1. Where I live, there was a campaign to put yard signs out for Biden in unison. There were almost none, and then the morning after the debate, yard signs went out. This was matched by a media campaign. I live in a vote by mail state, so they need narratives to support outcomes.

      Something happened which I had never seen before, Democrats defaced their neighbors yard signs. Things have been getting worse as shitbags from other parts of the country have been moving here and bringing their anti-human ideology with them.

  3. Last time I got polled the last of the questions was if I approved of President Ford’s handling of the New York City financial “crisis”.

    I was a Chicago resident at the time, so I answered “yes”, and for some reason, they thanked me and hung up.

  4. I occasionally check out prices on Predictit.org and they seem to reflect an acceptance of heavily weighted polls that favor the Ds. So the “smart” people are buying (literally) the accuracy of existing polls, or possibly they’re factoring in the Dao-Min-Yen effect.

    Their accuracy wasn’t all that great in 2018 or 2020, iirc.

  5. “The quality of the legislation, and its effects on the Republic, are much more important measures than simply whether a bill was passed.”

    Yup. With more diverse media coverage, most people realize that passing things in a congress your party controls, really isn’t an accomplishment. It is fan service for your base and it would be nice if the GOP got on board with that instead of stabbing their base in the back over and over.

    I’m not sure I believe in the shy/scared voter but, I wont answer the phone or respond to texts from GOP candidates and I am sure there are lots like me. Voting for them is a necessary evil but I don’t want to participate in any BS. The truth is that Democrats control media and education and that means they have a lot of influence over what people think, including their views of reality itself.

    The Democrat party is the popular party. Progressive Marxism is a popular ideology. Not very many Democrats think men can’t get pregnant or that Republicans don’t want a theocracy or that wanting a smaller less powerful government isn’t really totalitarian Fascism or that we don’t live in a climate apocalypse. Republicans might do well but they are up against a powerful machine that holds sway over a large portion of the populace and is willing to do anything to retain and exert power.

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