Electability.

[thesquanderer]

3. re: "feedback loop"

Yes, it's one reason I've maintained that poll questions that ask who you will vote for (head to head against Trump) are valuable, but poll questions that ask who you think is most electable (essentially, a poll that asks who you think OTHER people will vote for, rather than just asking other people) will to a large extent just report back what has already been reported. If people read that polls say someone will beat Trump by the largest amount, they are likely to believe that that person would be most electable, but all they're really doing is spitting back the results of previous polls. It may not be the only thing that determines someone's answer to the electability question, but it has to be a factor. Yup, it's a feedback loop. So "Who do you think is most electable" is a useless question for a poll, except perhaps as part of some kind of study of psychology and/or media influence. Politically, it's pointless.