Polling Media Seduced

Why the media, seduced by the polls, were stunned by the hugeDemocratic defeat 

Courtesy of @Politico, the most embarrassing wrong calls of 2014

The problem is the tone, not the tactic. Many people don’t realize that their participation in an election is a matter of public record, unlike their actual vote. Apathy and laziness are the worst enemies of a vigorous public life, and there’s nothing wrong with reminding people of their civic responsibility through a straightforward report card. But when the language turns threatening and creepy — “we will be interested to hear why not” — it can backfire, and has already produced many complaints. If Democrats had simply said, “you’ve got a great voting record, now keep it going,” or “you haven’t voted in years, but we really need you now” it would have served the function of a reminder without the threat. The Democrats, too  often maligned as the party of Big Government, should be more careful not to draw comparisons to Big Brother.* Postcards mailed to select voters in Erie County included the names of neighbors and their voting histories in an attempt to use social pressure to get people to the polls today, the Buffalo News reports: * Many of the celebrities who appeared in a high-profile “Rock the Vote” ad last month didn’t actually vote in the last midterm election themselves, according to a new report, the Daily News writes: At least five of the stars in the parody of Lil Jon’s ‘Turn Down for What’, including Lena Dunham, Whoopi Goldberg and Natasha Lyonne, didn’t vote in the 2010 midterm elections, The Washington Post reported.

Voter's Protest: New York's DecreasingVoter Turnout

 

The Daily Q: Who polices the pollsters? (The NY World)