March 16, 2002
From the desk of Jane Galt:Margin of error I read
Margin of error
I read with some hilarity this item on the Democrat's strategy in the New Republic, which seems to be a case study in poor polling:The fundamental problem facing these Democrats is a familiar one: how to please faithful liberals without alienating moderate voters in the rural districts and states on which control of Congress hinges. One message already on display posits a battle of "local interests" versus "special interests." Voters will be urged not to support Congressman Jones because his votes for corporate allies of the White House--Enron and other big energy companies, for instance--put local highway projects, or health clinics, or whatever, at risk. One leading party strategist recently described it as "basically `The People versus The Powerful' again." For instance, Democrats recently polled the following question: "Enron, like many of the biggest corporations, used money and influence to get their way, at the expense of the public. We need leaders who will attack the abuses by big corporations that have too much influence over what happens in Washington." Fifty-eight percent of registered voters polled agreed a "great deal," while another 26 percent agreed a "fair amount."One can imagine similar Republican poll questions showing "wide support" for their issues:
"Clinton, like many of the Democrats, is a lying, cheating horn-dog of the first order. We need leaders who will pay more than lip service to the truth and keep their hands to themselves."
"The Kyoto Treaty, like many environmental initiatives, would most likely contract our economic growth rate by between 33% and 50%. We need leaders who don't want to throw your wife out of work and force your brother-in-law to take up permanent residence on your couch."
"Social Security is having trouble and Tom Daschle, like many Democrats, wants to fiddle while Rome burns. We need leaders who can make sure that you spend your golden years on the golf course instead of the work house."
Make your own -- it's fun!
Poll questions like this are useless. Not only do they make prejudicial statements that your opponents, like it or not, will have ample time to refute during the campaign, but they produce abnormally high favorable responses to whatever it is you're proposing to curb whatever it is you just told them was wrong. No wonder the Dems are floundering.
Posted by Jane Galt at March 16, 2002 01:04 PM | TrackBack | Technorati inbound links