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Study: American Voters Dumb as Ever!
Back in 1960, four University of Michigan professors published a landmark study that, to the nation's utter shock, found that Americans are nothing but lemmings when it comes to our most sacred Democratic rite, voting. Titled "The American Voter," the study revealed that, by and large, Democrats and Republicans voted for their respective parties for no better reason than that was what their parents had done before them. Independents, the study claimed, were even less informed than their partisan neighbors. In fact, if anything, they were less interested and involved in politics than the donkeys or the elephants. Over the ensuing 48 years, a lot has changed in our country. We've seen great leaders assassinated, fought a disastrous war in Vietnam, seen a president resign in disgrace, helped dismantle the Soviet Union, learned interesting uses for Altoids, and invaded Iraq based on faulty intelligence. In short, we've been given every reason to start paying attention to the issues that face our country so that we can make an informed decision about who we elect to governmental office. What's that old saying? Something about learning from the mistakes of the past so that we're not doomed to repeat them in the present?
Well, consider us doomed. That's the gist of an update to "The American Voter," aptly titled, "The American Voter Revisited."
PD toolbar!
Once again, four smart people have gotten together to look down from their ivory tower across the landscape populated with frighteningly unthoughtful voters. And, once again, we're learning about what we already knew. From The Washington Post:
"The American Voter Revisited" is chock-full of depressing conclusions, couched in academic understatement. In-depth interviews conducted with 1,500 people during the two most recent presidential elections revealed that the "majority of people don't have many issues in mind" when they discuss voting, (study co-author Michael) Lewis-Beck says. Sometimes they say they're attracted to a candidate because "I just don't think we should change parties right now." They tend to inherit their party allegiance from their parents, and those beliefs tend to stay fixed throughout their lives, he says.
Just as in 1960, American voters aren't really paying attention. Despite the 24-hour campaign coverage on the teevee and the internets, for the most part, the electorate seems to be set on auto-pilot, as Lewis-Black, detailed in an interview with the University of Michigan Press:
...do socio-economic conditions and, especially, party identification, still largely determine how Americans vote? Are voters still mostly inattentive to politics, with a rather low level of interest in politics, and very little under standing of the liberal-conservative debate raging at the elite level? The answer to these questions, perhaps surprisingly, is "yes." In other words, the typical American voter follows pretty much the same cues as he or she did fifty years ago.
Yes, the Times They Are a Changin', and the more they change, the more they stay the same.
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David Knowles
A journalist, musician and novelist, David Knowles has covered politics at AOL for the past two and a half years...more
Comments (518)
EGObaMANIAC
10:00AM Jul 24th 2008
Does this make voters more well-informed??
Media Love of Obama Doesn't Equal Victory
Wednesday, July 23, 2008
By Susan Estrich
---------
I can’t help but think of that story as I watch some of our nation’s finest — or at least our most famous — political reporters fawning all over Barack Obama like entertainment reporters covering movie star. Is this good for them? Or for him, for that matter?
They are reporting what they are getting, which in many cases means what they are given, not exactly reporting by any definition.
Andrea Mitchell made the point that the press is running video and pictures they are being given
with no idea of what’s been edited in or out, but that certainly hasn’t stopped her own network
from doing so.
The problem with all this fawning is threefold. First of all, the fact that the press doesn’t push doesn’t mean that, sooner or later, the Republicans won’t. They will. Every question the press doesn’t ask and Obama doesn’t have to answer will be the subject of a speech at the Republican convention, an ad down the road, a tirade by somebody that will ring truer than it should precisely ecause it hasn’t been addressed before.
Second, being the favorite of the press doesn’t necessarily win you votes. Most people don’t
actually like the press. The friend of my enemy is not necessarily my friend. Being liked by the
boys and girls on the bus doesn’t necessarily earn you the respect of the people back home.
Standing up to them, giving as good as you get, all that helps. But if being loved by the press were a sure route to success, Hillary Clinton would never have carried all those big states after March 1. Ronald Reagan would never have gotten elected President. George Bush would have lost, twice.
Third, and perhaps most important, the American press corps is the most fickle lover you could ever have. They make my worst ex-boyfriend look like a paragon of loyalty and devotion, giving new meaning to the old expression, “love ‘em and leave ‘em.” Except the press doesn’t just leave, they destroy. The better the coverage at the outset, the worse it will almost certainly be later on. I can’t begin to count how many times I have warned politicians and candidates to worry as much about the good coverage as the bad, because the more air they put in your balloon, the bigger the target when they start shooting.
Amen??????????????????
Media Love of Obama Doesn't Equal Victory
Wednesday, July 23, 2008
By Susan Estrich
---------
I can’t help but think of that story as I watch some of our nation’s finest — or at least our most famous — political reporters fawning all over Barack Obama like entertainment reporters covering movie star. Is this good for them? Or for him, for that matter?
They are reporting what they are getting, which in many cases means what they are given, not exactly reporting by any definition.
Andrea Mitchell made the point that the press is running video and pictures they are being given
with no idea of what’s been edited in or out, but that certainly hasn’t stopped her own network
from doing so.
The problem with all this fawning is threefold. First of all, the fact that the press doesn’t push doesn’t mean that, sooner or later, the Republicans won’t. They will. Every question the press doesn’t ask and Obama doesn’t have to answer will be the subject of a speech at the Republican convention, an ad down the road, a tirade by somebody that will ring truer than it should precisely ecause it hasn’t been addressed before.
Second, being the favorite of the press doesn’t necessarily win you votes. Most people don’t
actually like the press. The friend of my enemy is not necessarily my friend. Being liked by the
boys and girls on the bus doesn’t necessarily earn you the respect of the people back home.
Standing up to them, giving as good as you get, all that helps. But if being loved by the press were a sure route to success, Hillary Clinton would never have carried all those big states after March 1. Ronald Reagan would never have gotten elected President. George Bush would have lost, twice.
Third, and perhaps most important, the American press corps is the most fickle lover you could ever have. They make my worst ex-boyfriend look like a paragon of loyalty and devotion, giving new meaning to the old expression, “love ‘em and leave ‘em.” Except the press doesn’t just leave, they destroy. The better the coverage at the outset, the worse it will almost certainly be later on. I can’t begin to count how many times I have warned politicians and candidates to worry as much about the good coverage as the bad, because the more air they put in your balloon, the bigger the target when they start shooting.
Amen??????????????????
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(0) 
EGObaMANIAC
10:05AM Jul 24th 2008
LOL DK doesnt believe in free speech unless it agress with him and, if you believe he does you fit well in today's story
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(0) david knowles
10:08AM Jul 24th 2008
EGO,
I most certainly do believe in free speech. But you have repeatedly violated our "No-Spam" policy. You keep cutting and pasting the same long list into multiple posts. That's why those comments have been deleted. As you see, your comments above remain on our pages.
We're trying to make the comment section less of a drag for everyone. To that end I delete pro-Obama spam, pro-McCain spam, pro-Ron Paul spam, you name it. Please, help keep the comments on the topic, without large identical sections cut and pasted into multiple threads.
Have a good day.
I most certainly do believe in free speech. But you have repeatedly violated our "No-Spam" policy. You keep cutting and pasting the same long list into multiple posts. That's why those comments have been deleted. As you see, your comments above remain on our pages.
We're trying to make the comment section less of a drag for everyone. To that end I delete pro-Obama spam, pro-McCain spam, pro-Ron Paul spam, you name it. Please, help keep the comments on the topic, without large identical sections cut and pasted into multiple threads.
Have a good day.
RATE THIS COMMENT: (0)
(0) EGObaMANIAC
10:14AM Jul 24th 2008
BK:That is a pile of bs and you know it...we are not morons. You pick and choose those posts that you deem to be cut and paste and yes, some stories are suitable for more than one PM blog. The bias you morons show is evident and more so when there is no opportunity for those with other information to post it. Anti-spam..my azzzz....censorship is alive and well on AOL.
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(0) C. Jenkins
10:16AM Jul 24th 2008
david Knowles,
Thank you so very much. It was about time someone took the initiative. I am actually burning up my computer scrolling through the very same posts over 15 inches long.
Thank you so very much. It was about time someone took the initiative. I am actually burning up my computer scrolling through the very same posts over 15 inches long.
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(0) david knowles
10:20AM Jul 24th 2008
EGO,
Why on earth do you frequent a blog you accuse of censorship? And why would we keep your damming comments on the board if they were actually true?
Why on earth do you frequent a blog you accuse of censorship? And why would we keep your damming comments on the board if they were actually true?
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(0) david knowles
10:21AM Jul 24th 2008
C. Jenkins,
Unfortunately, it's hard for us to weed them out. But we try.
Unfortunately, it's hard for us to weed them out. But we try.
RATE THIS COMMENT: (0)
(0) C. Jenkins
10:23AM Jul 24th 2008
EGObaMANIAC10:14AMJul 24th 2008
BK:That is a pile of bs and you know it...we are not morons. You pick and choose those posts that you deem to be cut and paste and yes, some stories are suitable for more than one PM blog. The bias you morons show is evident and more so when there is no opportunity for those with other information to post it. Anti-spam..my azzzz....censorship is alive and well on AOL.
____________________________________________________
Do you know how difficult you make it for someone to respond to you. Your posts are so long, I have to chop them up in order not to copy and paste the entire comment. Still further, they are seldom on the posted Articles. One size fits all may be okay for clothing but not on a comment board.
BK:That is a pile of bs and you know it...we are not morons. You pick and choose those posts that you deem to be cut and paste and yes, some stories are suitable for more than one PM blog. The bias you morons show is evident and more so when there is no opportunity for those with other information to post it. Anti-spam..my azzzz....censorship is alive and well on AOL.
____________________________________________________
Do you know how difficult you make it for someone to respond to you. Your posts are so long, I have to chop them up in order not to copy and paste the entire comment. Still further, they are seldom on the posted Articles. One size fits all may be okay for clothing but not on a comment board.
RATE THIS COMMENT: (0)
(0) C. Jenkins
10:26AM Jul 24th 2008
David,
I know, when you bring it to their attention, they are on the attack. Some of them like to write so much, I've advised them to get off the boards and write a novel.
You did the right thing.
I know, when you bring it to their attention, they are on the attack. Some of them like to write so much, I've advised them to get off the boards and write a novel.
You did the right thing.
RATE THIS COMMENT: (0)
(0) EGObaMANIAC
10:29AM Jul 24th 2008
Oh believe me DK everyone of those headlines is true although you will never find them on AOL PM. The reason people are morons is because of people like you, who only believe in your own bias.
Someone has to challenge your bias and thankfully there are reporters out there who present alternate views.
If you choose not to allow your readers to be exposed to information not adoring of your plastic jesus, then we all miss out. That is censhorship pure and simple..
Someone has to challenge your bias and thankfully there are reporters out there who present alternate views.
If you choose not to allow your readers to be exposed to information not adoring of your plastic jesus, then we all miss out. That is censhorship pure and simple..
RATE THIS COMMENT: (0)
(0) david knowles
10:29AM Jul 24th 2008
C.J.,
To be clear, we don't have a problem with long comments. It's the long ones that are repeated in multiple threads that irk us.
To be clear, we don't have a problem with long comments. It's the long ones that are repeated in multiple threads that irk us.
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(0) EGObaMANIAC
10:32AM Jul 24th 2008
Speaking of being irked...could one say that the monologues posted by CJ with previouos comments posted over and over is not a waste of time and
totally useless to the reader.?
totally useless to the reader.?
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(0) C. Jenkins
10:32AM Jul 24th 2008
David,
Your a kind person, she would have been off the minute she called me a moron. Just about all the Bloggers are abused and called many vile names. Is that part of "freedom of speech?"
Your a kind person, she would have been off the minute she called me a moron. Just about all the Bloggers are abused and called many vile names. Is that part of "freedom of speech?"
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(0) Michele
10:33AM Jul 24th 2008
Back to the issue at hand, DK, ego, and C. Jenkins, I find that it is hillarious that in the present elections that Mr. Knowles would suggest that people are uninformed. I believe people are informed about these candidates whether they want to be or not.
With today's media, election coverage is in your face on every channel, every medium, every day!
How could one even possibly not be informed?
If someone is sticking to their party lines, it is because they believe in the same values.
David, why is this so hard for you to understand? I kind of feel like you are saying this because the numbers aren't that much greater for Obama than for McCain. This should be a democratic year, yes, but when you select a candidate for nomination be prepared for the backlash.
With today's media, election coverage is in your face on every channel, every medium, every day!
How could one even possibly not be informed?
If someone is sticking to their party lines, it is because they believe in the same values.
David, why is this so hard for you to understand? I kind of feel like you are saying this because the numbers aren't that much greater for Obama than for McCain. This should be a democratic year, yes, but when you select a candidate for nomination be prepared for the backlash.
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(0) EGObaMANIAC
10:37AM Jul 24th 2008
The good news is DK is the only one who considers alternate views blasphemy
TTFN
TTFN
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(0) Mary B
10:39AM Jul 24th 2008
yeah they are dumber ..obviously....look at all the votes for obama...the inexperienced bigot
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(0) JLS
10:39AM Jul 24th 2008
Just this morning on ABC the three anchors were laughing and joking about the "varsity" news anchors were following Obama as he campaigned in Germany and other foreign lands, even handing out literature printed in German (!!!), while only a few "junior varsity" were following McCain in our own country. They really thought it funny. Yet, my liberal friends insist the media is not biased.
As to EGO, his insulting invective should make it obvious to everyone that he has nothing substantive to say and is unable to write cognitive sentences on his own. His comments are best passed over.
As to EGO, his insulting invective should make it obvious to everyone that he has nothing substantive to say and is unable to write cognitive sentences on his own. His comments are best passed over.
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(0) david knowles
10:39AM Jul 24th 2008
Michele,
Thanks for your comment. Actually, I was just writing about the findings in the study. That the numbers aren't much greater for Obama than McCain would seem to back up what the authors were claiming.
Thanks for your comment. Actually, I was just writing about the findings in the study. That the numbers aren't much greater for Obama than McCain would seem to back up what the authors were claiming.
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(0) C. Jenkins
10:39AM Jul 24th 2008
EGObaMANIAC10:31AMJul 24th 2008
Speaking of being irked...could one say that the monologues posted by CJ with previouos comments posted over and over is not a waste of time and
totally useless to the reader.?
____________________________________________________
I am grown and can speak for myself. First of all you are fabricating, I just learned how to "copy and paste" about two weeks ago. I have no idea how to transfer a post from one article to the other or from an email to a post.
It was necessary that I learn because so many would ask me "who are you talking to?" Therefore I learned just to pull a part of an article I am responding to so first I can see that part of the comment in front of me and both know who I am responding to.
First of all, you sound so God Awful Childish, you got caught bending the rules not I. You will never see a copy and paste of mine and no one article has ever been repeated.
Speaking of being irked...could one say that the monologues posted by CJ with previouos comments posted over and over is not a waste of time and
totally useless to the reader.?
____________________________________________________
I am grown and can speak for myself. First of all you are fabricating, I just learned how to "copy and paste" about two weeks ago. I have no idea how to transfer a post from one article to the other or from an email to a post.
It was necessary that I learn because so many would ask me "who are you talking to?" Therefore I learned just to pull a part of an article I am responding to so first I can see that part of the comment in front of me and both know who I am responding to.
First of all, you sound so God Awful Childish, you got caught bending the rules not I. You will never see a copy and paste of mine and no one article has ever been repeated.
RATE THIS COMMENT: (0)
(0) Mary B
10:47AM Jul 24th 2008
this year this democrat is voting another party...this party this year has selected a candidate and stuffed it down our throats..they have used their power and influences to work against the voters that elected them...they are blantently working against the ones who pay their salaries. Just like obama...all they want to do is over tax the great Americans.....locally and nationally my votes can not support the party
RATE THIS COMMENT: (0)
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