What Pollsters Ask vs. What Respondents Hear

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Do people really care about all the nano-controversies that constantly bubble up out of the politico-quantum vacuum and then disappear just as quickly? Dave Weigel points to the following poll question as evidence about the number of people who have an opinion about Obama’s “hot mic” incident:

That’s impressive! Apparently 96% of America has an opinion about this. The problem is that although the question above is the one that was presented to people, here’s what I think they mostly heard:

blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah President Obama blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah Troubling or Not?

So if you’re not an Obamanaut, you find his conduct troubling — whatever it is. But if you’re a fan, it’s no big deal. I suspect this dynamic accounts for the routinely implausible number of people in polls who claim to have heard of, or care about, some particular incident that we all know perfectly well most people know nothing about. Ditto for obscure policy issues. Everyone wants to have an opinion, even if they have no idea what they’re supposed to have an opinion about.

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“Lying.” “Disgusting.” “Scum.” “Slime.” “Corrupt.” “Enemy of the people.” Donald Trump has always made clear what he thinks of journalists. And it’s plain now that his administration intends to do everything it can to stop journalists from reporting things they don’t like—which is most things that are true.

No one gets to tell Mother Jones what to publish or not publish, because no one owns our fiercely independent newsroom. But that also means we need to directly raise the resources it takes to keep our journalism alive. There’s only one way for that to happen, and it’s readers like you stepping up. Please help with a donation today if you can—even a few bucks will make a real difference. A monthly gift would be incredible.

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