Poll of Republicans Met With Shock, Skepticism

Poll with an agenda

Hey folks,

Happy Friday to you. Glad to be back in The Chair. I will be here for the Big Sunday Edition as well. Man, is my stack growing. I have so much I want to talk about building up all week. It really is going to be quite difficult to figure out what to exclude. I will get to work on that in just a bit.

However, it IS Friday. Time to go to the Emails. Yeah, I have the Poll. I was going to talk about it on Sunday. But then I got this.

"Hey Pete. Did you see this? I bet you did. Just proof that what you say all the time about the left is actually true about the far right Wingnuts. You always call the Left "Kooks." Turns out, at least your people admit that they are. I guess maybe President Obama and those running congress right now are right. I think that report about extremists on your side was right on target. Don't you think?"

{Laughing} I think what MS is talking about is that Homeland Security "Rightwing Extremism" Report that attempted to make Conservatives: Enemy of the State?

Uh, NO. {Laughing} First, I'm an Independent thinking Conservative. They are NOT "My People." I do not tow ANY Party Line. I Vote for who I feel is the best person for the Job. I believe in and Vote for Right and Wrong. Actually, in a way, I AM the reason for this completely bogus Poll.

This Poll was conducted by a Liberal Kook Website, the Daily Kos. They commissioned a Lib Polling Company, Research 2000. There was only one true intent of this Poll. To discourage Independents and Moderates from joining with the Republicans. They felt that if they could justify their idiotic stereotype that Republicans were nothing more than "Bitter Clingers," Racist, War Mongering, Chauvinistic, Homophobes, the Independents and Moderates would shun them and Vote Democrat. There are some problems with this though.

First, Most Republicans I know, are NOT any of the above. There are a small number of Racists in EVERY Race, Political affiliation, and walk of life. There are Chauvinists, and all kinds of bad people in all walks of life. But to attempt to say that to be a Republican, you have to be this way is Asinine at best. This was a poor attempt to say "See. They even admit it. Why would anyone want to side with them."

I found an excellent example in the News of why this Poll was done. It's by AOL News - The Point - Poll of Republicans Met With Shock, Skepticism

(Feb. 3) -- Most Republicans think Barack Obama is a socialist and Sarah Palin is more qualified than him to be president. Most either think Obama wasn't born in the U.S. or aren't sure. Nearly 40 percent want him impeached. Those are a few of the results in a Daily Kos poll that's shaking up the blogosphere.

How many Independents and Moderates think the same this? Oh, we do not know. They were not part of the Poll.

The liberal Web site commissioned Research 2000 to survey more than 2,000 self-identified Republicans last month. Site founder Markos Moulitsas -- the "Kos" in Daily Kos -- called the results "nothing short of startling."

Of Course.

A few more nuggets from the poll:

•21 percent believe the Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now (ACORN) stole the 2008 election and 55 percent aren't sure.
•31 percent believe Obama is a racist who hates white people and 33 percent aren't sure.
•23 percent want their state to secede from the U.S. and 19 percent aren't sure.
•Only 26 percent favor letting openly gay Americans serve in the military.
•67 percent believe the only way to get to heaven is through Jesus Christ.

OK. First, 21 percent, 31, 23, is NOT the Majority. Not even in this SMALL group of "self-identified Republicans" A couple of basic questions. How did they find these people? Where are they from? How did they ask them the Poll questions? I have NEVER heard of any Republicans calling for their State to secede. Not in recent years anyway. Not because of Obama. I HAVE heard them calling for Obama to be impeached.

On his blog, Politico's Ben Smith said the poll was conducted "more or less with the goal of making Republicans look extreme" and "does a pretty good job of that." Daily Kos responded Wednesday, "Actually, the poll just asked questions of self-identified Republicans. The answers made Republicans look extreme."

Second time this article uses the phrase "self-identified Republicans."

"If this poll is accurate (and Research 2000 has a good reputation for accuracy), the Republican base has an absurdly high percentage of wackos of all stripes, from religious fanatics to creationists to secessionists to conspiracy theorists," said Charles Johnson on Little Green Footballs.

Another Lib Site.

Other commentators were more skeptical.

"One has to wonder if Republicans really believe that Obama stole the election, was born in Kenya and that all non-Christians are going to hell," noted Matt Sussman, Technorati politics channel editor. "Granted, several of the questions are loaded, and Kos himself may be reading too much into the 'undecided' pool, but the results are nonetheless startling."

What's missing from the research is context, Darren Lenard Hutchinson observed on his blog Dissenting Justice. "It does not provide comparative results for self-identified Democrats and Independents. So, while Kos and many Daily Kos readers believe that the poll proves the extremism among Republicans, it is difficult to make this conclusion without comparative data," he said.

That wouldn't fit the agenda.

Hutchinson and Moderate Voice's David Adesnik both pointed out that the Kos poll's results on questions about same-sex marriage and gays in the military were far different from those from recent Gallup and Pew surveys.

"But unless you have evidence that something is actually wrong with the poll, what can you possibly say? You can be suspicious of Kos, but that's not an argument," Adesnik conceded.

Neither is taking this Poll on Face Value.

Newsweek's Katie Connolly wondered whether the sampling of participants was skewed. (Click to see details on survey sample.) For example, 83 percent of those polled said they were likely to vote this November. That number was "remarkably high -- and odd," Connolly said. It's usually no more than 60 percent in other surveys. Also, 37 percent of those polled were over 60, and only 9 percent were under 30.

"That's a pretty big split. It's no secret that older voters are a lot more conservative on most of these issues and aren't big fans of the president, and their views may be overstated here," Connolly suggested on the Gaggle blog.

That's a good point. You know why that is? Because people over 60 KNOW the difference in Conservatism and Liberalism. They understand what Socialism means. They have lived through Reagan and the Cold War. They can CLEARLY see where Obama is attempting to take this country. They want no part of it. But that is another problem of this Poll. It would be like me, going out and finding a bunch of Anti-War Kooks, and asking them if they like a President that is quick to use force, attack, and wage war. I bet you I would get the answer I was looking for.

But demographic categories might not mean much when it comes to GOP voters. Polling guru Nate Silver was struck by the fact that on nearly every question, "the results showed essentially no difference based on age, gender, race or geography-- once we've established that you're a Republican, these differences seem to be rendered moot." The GOP base appears to be "the same pretty much everywhere" -- which will be the party's greatest strength and greatest liability going into the midterm elections, Silver predicted on his blog FiveThirtyEight.

NewsBusters' Scott Whitlock slammed MSNBC's David Shuster for using the poll to declare that most Republicans are "birthers" who think Obama isn't really an American citizen.

"So, one poll, by a left-wing website (in conjunction with the firm Research 2000), is enough for MSNBC to assert that 58 percent of GOPers subscribe to a bizarre conspiracy?" Whitlock fumed. "A Rasmussen poll from May of 2007 found that 61 percent of Democrats either believed that George Bush knew about the 9/11 terror attack in advance or aren't sure. Does that mean that 'most Democrats' are Truthers?"

{Laughing} GREAT Point. But again, uh, Shhhhh!. That doesn't fit the agenda either.

There are a lot of possible explanations for why the poll numbers "don't say what they seem to say," according to Washington Post columnist Ezra Klein.

"Maybe Research 2000's sample is off. Maybe people don't really believe the answers they give to pollsters. Maybe they do believe these things, but don't take their own beliefs very seriously," said Klein. "But we'd all better hope it's a pretty good explanation, because these are the folks who choose the general election candidates for one of the country's two major parties."

Of course, some were happy to take at least part of the survey at face value. Sarah Palin came out on top -- with 16 percent, compared with 11 percent for Mitt Romney -- when respondents were asked whom they'd pick if the GOP presidential primary were held today. Tommy Report at Conservatives4Palin.com said that proves the ex-governor "seems to have passed the qualifications test with self-identified Republicans."

It's human nature for people to interpret any poll in a way that reinforces what they already believe. And if they can't, they simply dismiss the research as being flawed. Perhaps that is the real takeaway from this survey.

It's Lib Nature to lie, cheat, and steal, to get what they want. By the way, THREE times, this article identified the respondents as "self-identified Republicans." Am I the only one that sees this as odd? It's like they are saying, "Hey, we are not saying that Republicans think this. These people. They tell us that they are Republicans." OK. Someone tells me, "Call yourself a Lib. I will ask you some questions." I say. "OK. I'm a Lib." Now I AM a "self-identified Lib." But does that really MEAN anything?

The Poll is a joke. It is a total set up. It really is, a Poll with an agenda. The agenda is to discourage Independents, Moderates, and even some Sane Democrats, from siding with Republicans. Massachusetts has them scared to death. Kennedy's Seat? Oh, they may be trying to do anything and everything they can to down play it. But it has them Scared as hell. They KNOW that they are on their way out. They know that if they keep siding with the Lunatics running Congress, and the Moron we have for a President, there will be a HUGE price to pay in November.

For those of you who are upset with me calling the President a Moron, HE left no choice. He came out and said that he is not a Socialist, or an "Ideologue," that only leaves one other possibility. He is a complete and utter incompetent Moron. To make statements like the ones he made Wednesday morning?

"We've gotta make sure that our party understands that, like it or not, we have to have a financial system that is healthy and functioning."

Like it or not? {Sigh} The he says this?

"So we can't be demonizing, uh, every bank out there."

While attacking them with oppressive taxation AFTER they paid back the money they got, with INTEREST? The he releases his new TRILLION dollar budget after Congress raises the dept ceiling yet again. Then attacking Toyota? Any people wonder why the Market fell over 200 points? OK. Obama is not a "Bolshevik," or an "Ideologue." He said so. So there can then be only one other explanation. He's a Moron that is clueless as to what he is doing. I tend to believe different.
Peter

Note: From The Emails is a weekly Segment every Friday, or occasionally anytime, that appears here at the OPNTalk Blog. Please feel free to Email any Articles, Comments, Thoughts, Whatever, that you may like to share to opntalk@gmail.com As always, you never know what you may see here.