Ken Berwitz
I have a quick question for mainstream media – especially the mainstream media which commission political polling.
The following data, from Nate Cohn\’s article in the New York Times, which was put out on New Year\’s Eve (thus guaranteed to get lower-than-average exposure), show how Donald Trump is doing among people of each party affiliation….with a major caveat, which we\’ll talk about after you take a look:
Unregistered: 40%Republican: 29%Independent: 36%Democrat: 43%
Surprising data? I\’m guessing it is. But how can it be that Democrats are more supportive of Donald Trump than independents or even Republicans?
The answer: because these data were drawn exclusively from respondents who identified as Republican, regardless of their political affiliation, that\’s how.
In other words, the research – or at least this presentation of the research – avoids showing you how regular, garden-variety Democrats are reacting to Trump.
My quick question, in one word, is…….WHY?
I have blogged before about this; about how polling for Trump almost always seems to exclude Democrats (even in this case, since the only “Democrats” it polls are “DINOs”: Democrats In Name Only.
What are they all so afraid of? Maybe they\’re afraid of finding out that, for whatever the reasons, Donald Trump has appreciable support across party lines?
Look, this information will not change who and what Donald Trump is. All it will do is show that people on both sides of the aisle see his unscripted, “shoot from the hip”, opinions as a welcome change from the focus-group tested, consultant-devised, rehearsed BS we get from most politicians (certainly Hillary Clinton).
Ok, one other question: Why are they, clearly, so afraid to gather and present this kind of information?
I think I know the answer. Do you?
