New Presidential Campaign Poll: most people don't give a shit

["Jose G. Perez" <jg_perez@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

    There's a new poll out by a respected bourgeois think tank, the
Pew Research Center, and it reveals most Americans don't give a shit
about the presidential election, and aren't paying all that much
attention to the farce.

>From the analysis of the results:

* * *

Do Elections Still Matter?

Not only are many Americans turned off by the current campaign, a
significant number say it doesn't much matter who is eventually
elected. Nearly half of Americans (49%) believe things will pretty
much stay the same regardless of who is elected; less than half (45%)
say that, as far as making progress on the important issues facing the
country is concerned, it really matters who wins the 2000 presidential
election.

While there is a clear generational divide on these questions, with
younger people more skeptical that the election matters, education and
income are also important factors. For example, 57% of those whose
education ended with high school say conditions in the country will be
the same regardless of who is elected in November. That compares to
only 38% of college graduates.

Independents are more likely than party loyalists to express doubt
about the election's significance. Fully 37% of independents say it
doesn't make much difference who's elected president, compared to 28%
of Democrats and 23% of Republicans. Similarly, 58% of independents
say things will be the same regardless of who is elected in 2000, vs.
45% of Democrats and 41% of Republicans.

* * *

The full poll results are here:

http://www.people-press.org/june00rpt.htm

Needless to say, the hacks at bourgeois newspapers and the actors who
play journalists on TV are ignoring the results of this poll, and
presenting instead the typical, doctored horse-race polls, which are
statistically manipulated to eliminate the opinion of the majority of
Americans that don't usually vote.

José

Beyond that, fully one-third of the public believe that Gore and Bush
do not have well-defined policy differences. This perception is
strongly linked to feelings about the importance of the upcoming
election. Among those who say the candidates have similar issue
positions, 62% say things will remain the same, regardless of who wins
in November. Among those who perceive the candidates as having
different positions, only 38% hold this view.