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Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsWhat people don’t know can hurt them
For those who remain engaged in public affairs, the basics on contemporary politics are usually too obvious to even mention. We know who President Obama is and what party he belongs to; we know who Speaker of the House John Boehner is and his party affiliation; etc.
But like it or not, were in the minority. Most Americans dont keep up with current events enough to know which party, for example, is in the majority in the House and the Senate.
Its easy to lament the scope of our uninformed electorate, but in the short term, its also worth appreciating the practical consequence. As Greg Sargent noted yesterday, theres new focus-group research that shows many Democratic voters are likely to skip the 2014 midterms in large part because they have no idea whats at risk.
What if a key part of the problem is that many of these voters simply dont know that Democratic control of the Senate is at stake in this falls elections?
Thats one of the conclusions veteran Dem pollster Celinda Lake reached after conducting new focus groups and polling for the liberal group MoveOn. Lake conducted two focus groups of people from Detroit and its suburbs. One was made up of single white women under 55 and married white women under 35 (millenials). The second was all African American women. These are the same voters who are expected to drop off in many red state Senate contests, too.
Lake added that the drop-off voters had no idea that control of the Senate was even up for grabs and were even very confused about who controlled it. These voters are very representative of drop-off voters in a lot of states.
Told that their states election may very well dictate control of the Senate in 2015 and 2016, these voters motivation went up. Reminded of specific issues at stake in the event of a Republican takeover, and their interest, not surprisingly, grew further.
More here: http://www.msnbc.com/rachel-maddow-show/what-people-dont-know-can-hurt-them
lordsummerisle
(4,651 posts)like trying to decide which new iPhone to get...
Beartracks
(12,797 posts)"Keep 'em poor and busy, or keep 'em dazzled by shiny entertainments -- or both!"
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