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Thoughtful and great questions. I think you probably have a bias (I do too), but I appreciate your framing of the problem and I want to give you a reply that do

by fixxer 10y ago

Thoughtful and great questions. I think you probably have a bias (I do too), but I appreciate your framing of the problem and I want to give you a reply that does your questions justice. So... Internal polls are not generally released. Nor are they shared to PACs. This is one benefit of public polling. It helps coordinate between the campaign and the PAC side. Re entertainment, I think watching polls is as entertaining as watching any sport for a lot of people. (I think that is pretty obvious actually - just my observation, though I worked with people in the political consulting industry, so perhaps my circle is wonkier than most). Now, the big crux and where we will disagree... People should vote because they are civicly minded and want to participate in the process. That requires education and sophistication, which is something both side lack en masse. The only thing worse than people not voting, IMO, are dumb people voting for the wrong reasons. The latter is mob rule and is why we're where we're at. Stupid is a bipartisan quality. As for access to voting, I think we could benefit from electronic or more mail-in. I don't want to suppress the right to vote; I just don't want to see sides manipulate the idiots of the electorate into voting. If you ever see how a GOTV strategy is put together, they look for people who are "persuadable", which is just another way of saying dumb. (Those analysts will admit it too if you put enough drink in their belly)

grzm 10y ago
Ah. For some reason I had it in my mind that you thought that there shouldn't be public polling. That was incorrect. That's not the case, is it? I completely agree that people should vote because they're civically minded and want to participate, and ideally make their decisions based on a well-educated understanding of the issues (and all they entail). What does this mean practically? What level of education is adequate? What are the wrong reasons? Single-issue voting? Being inspired by a leader? We're human, not perfectly (nearly?) rational, imperfect in general. What level of sophistication is necessary? I'm asking these questions of myself as much as of you. I have similar questions when it comes to persuasion. One person's education is another's persuasion is yet another's malicious manipulation. How do we convince people to be civically minded without persuading them that it's the right thing to do? What's the distinction between appealing to people who are likely to be amenable to your position and looking for those that are persuadable? How do you educate people who are, as you put it, "dumb"? Like I said earlier, these are questions I pose to myself as well. I'm asking here because I want to get other's opinions. Thanks again for taking the time to consider them. Discourse can be an important part of reaching understanding.
hga 10y ago
As for access to voting, I think we could benefit from electronic or more mail-in. Those, however, allow for vote buying and coercion, so I utterly oppose them.

by fixxer 10y ago

grzm 10y ago

Ah. For some reason I had it in my mind that you thought that there shouldn't be public polling. That was incorrect. That's not the case, is it? I completely agree that people should vote because they're civically minded and want to participate, and ideally make their decisions based on a well-educated understanding of the issues (and all they entail). What does this mean practically? What level of education is adequate? What are the wrong reasons? Single-issue voting? Being inspired by a leader? We're human, not perfectly (nearly?) rational, imperfect in general. What level of sophistication is necessary? I'm asking these questions of myself as much as of you. I have similar questions when it comes to persuasion. One person's education is another's persuasion is yet another's malicious manipulation. How do we convince people to be civically minded without persuading them that it's the right thing to do? What's the distinction between appealing to people who are likely to be amenable to your position and looking for those that are persuadable? How do you educate people who are, as you put it, "dumb"? Like I said earlier, these are questions I pose to myself as well. I'm asking here because I want to get other's opinions. Thanks again for taking the time to consider them. Discourse can be an important part of reaching understanding.

hga 10y ago

As for access to voting, I think we could benefit from electronic or more mail-in. Those, however, allow for vote buying and coercion, so I utterly oppose them.