[BartSimpson]

Psudo wrote:

BartSimpson wrote:

CBS right now has 93% of Americans opposed to Kagan's confirmation.

http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-503544_162- ... ontentMain

I wish that were true nationwide, but based on the results of the other questions I'm thinking there was some organized right-wing ballot stuffing. John Roberts as the most popular Supreme Court Justice? 81% think the court is "too liberal?" 93% think Kagan wasn't "forthcoming enough" in the Senate hearing? That all sounds more right-wing than the population at large.

Also, it carries a disclaimer that it is not a scientific poll. (Even if it were, what the people want is often far removed from what is right; the classic criticisms of polls all apply.)

CBS is not a conservative network (the short list for that is FOX) so the skew is pretty interesting. It may not be so much of an ideological thing as just a rejection of the administration that's not even holding onto their base this year.

[Calbeck]

BartSimpson wrote:

+1 for outstanding authorship.

Why thank you. -:D

I would, however, have to agree with Psudo here: online political groups are much more organized these days and tend to "camp" polling sites. When a poll comes up that trips their trigger, they mass-email everyone they know who agrees with them and rush to stuff the ballot box...multiple times, if the poll's coding allows for it, or if they can hack a way around the limits.

Both conservatives and liberals do this. It has nothing to do with CBS itself being biased one way or the other (though that might be revealed by their decisions in terms of which "unscientific polls" they choose to make a big deal of in their regular newscasts).

[commanderkai]

GreenTiger wrote:

Yes, This election will look at American version of the Taiwan's legislature. That might be Obama's legacy to reduce American Politics to a bitter and nasty process.

Oh come on Tiger, wouldn't you enjoy watching politicians beat each other up and toss shoes at one another? CSPAN could put it on Pay per View and hopefully you guys might recoup some debt!

[Psudo]

BartSimpson wrote:

CBS is not a conservative network [...] so the skew is pretty interesting.

No, it's really not interesting. The skew could be the result of one shut-in voting repeatedly for hours upon hours (or writing a computer program to do it automatically).

I just checked, and it's possible to vote repeatedly in the poll using Google Chrome's Incognito Mode and no other tools. Anything that easily falsifiable means nothing, as the CBS disclaimer below it admits.

I agree with your conclusion that many people are dissatisfied with this administration, but this poll isn't evidence of it.

[Teikiatsu]

Psudo wrote:

Also, it carries a disclaimer that it is not a scientific poll. (Even if it were, what the people want is often far removed from what is right; the classic criticisms of polls all apply.)

If not the People, then who determines 'what is right'? The Government? The Media? The Hollywood Pop-Culture?

I'll stick with the People.

[Kjorteo]

There is a time and a place to break out the Tea Party populist rhetoric, but using it to go after the concept of scientific polling is right up there with Jon Stewart's "because it's your appendix, not the doctors', not the Government's...." speech when he was parodying Glenn Beck.

[Psudo]

Teikiatsu: Reality is right. If a poll says 2+2=5, the respondents are morons.

Incidentally, I wasn't talking about The People as a Whole, I was talking about poll respondents. About 5% of scientific polls don't even reflect the views of The People, and non-scientific polls are even less accurate.

My point isn't anti-democracy, it's pro-logic.