The-persistence-the-reality-gap-matters |
PUBLIC POLICY POLLING (excerpts)
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE May 11, 2016 INTERVIEWS: Tom Jensen 919-744-6312
Q2 Do you think the unemployment rate has increased or decreased since Barack Obama became President?
43% The unemployment rate has increased since Barack Obama became President
49% The unemployment rate has decreased since Barack Obama became President
9% Not sure
How is it possible so may have no idea the full measure and scope of an economy that has added 15 million (rounded) jobs? Are so busy seeking television giggles and following reality TV shows or singing contest shows, we live oblivious to that which is critical to our lives? Are survey respondents who declared as republican getting their news from outlets such as Fox News and Am radio?
Conservative media and conservative politicians have performed as masters of deceit in salting the minds of millions with the dire state of the US. It seems, however, either more non-conservatives are paying attention to conservative media (and the GOP) or millions upon millions are busying themselves with superfluous lifestyles, we can not sit for a moment to absorb tidbits of current events and news. As bad as US media has become, there are moments of factual information dissemination if you are a non-Fox News viewer. Yet the current political season shows overwhelming evidence of nitty hammer like behavior across the political spectrum.
The PPP poll also reports survey respondent demographics which are troubling, to put it mildly. (see survey methodology and demographic data below).
-78% of voters nationally support increasing the minimum wage to at least $10 an hour, and 49% support going to at least $12 an hour. Only 10% think the current minimum wage
is fine, and another 10% think there should be no minimum wage at all. 95% of Democrats, 69% of independents, and 61% of Republicans support a hike at least to $10 an hour.
Q3 Do you think the stock market has gone up or down since Barack Obama became President?
52% The stock market has gone up since Barack Obama became President
32% The stock market has gone down since Barack Obama became President
16% Not sure
Q9 Do you support or oppose requiring a criminal background check of every person who wants to buy a firearm?
83% Support a criminal background check for everyone who wants to buy a firearm
12% Oppose a criminal background check for everyone who wants to buy a firearm
5% Not sure
Q15 Would you describe yourself as very liberal, somewhat liberal, moderate, somewhat conservative, or very conservative?
Very liberal………………………………………. 14%
Somewhat liberal …………………………………….. 21%
Moderate …………………………………………………………29%
Somewhat conservative ……………………………21%
Very conservative ……………………………….15%
The bell-shaped distribution of the sociopolitical makeup of the sampling is representative of a fair application of the survey tool.
Q16 If you are a woman, press 1. If a man, press 2. Woman 53% Man 47% .
Again a representative sample which fairly portrays national gender demographics.
Q17 If you are a Democrat, press 1. If a Republican, press 2. If you are an independent or identify with another party, press 3.
Democrat 43% ………………………………………………..
Republican 36% ………………………………………………
21% Independent / Other………………………………….
Herein lies what I refer to as troubling. Only just over a third of the sampling indicates Republican. Even if we consider the prospect of a few “crafty” respondents who would declare themselves IND. knowing full-well they are Republicans, we may still find approximately one-third of the pool offering the PPP findings.
Q18 If you are Hispanic, press 1. If white, press 2. . If African-American, press 3. If other, press 4.
Hispanic 10% ………………………………………………….
White 70% ……………………………………………………..
African American 12% ………………………………………
Other 8%
Another fair distribution considering current US population racial breakdowns.