Democratic Attacks on Sanders Are Long Overdue.......🙄🎨

[ehrnst]

89. If one quotes a number, then one is using specific data to support one's claim.

That's very different than saying that "The numbers aren't important, but I think that I'm one of many."

When one brings numbers into a discussion, one has made those numbers relevant, and should be ready for fact checking on them.

If one decries being fact checked on one's own stated numbers, then one loses credibility.

Is that clearer?

One reason data is important is because one's impressions of data can be manipulated. The impression of support of a candidate, especially on FaceBook, isn't always indicative of reality:

Since the beginning of 2019, nearly 3,000 active Facebook pages supporting Sanders have generated more than 290 million interactions — meaning shares, likes or other user actions — according to an analysis by Trevor Davis, a research professor at Livingston’s institute. For contrast, about 350 pages devoted to former vice president Joe Biden have generated just 9 million interactions; nearly 300 pro-Warren pages come in at under 20 million interactions.

That breakdown is vastly out of sync with projected support for the candidates in polls, which show Sanders gaining ground but still behind Biden in an average of surveys. This underscores a new reality: Facebook gives individual users power over public discourse disproportionate to their authority at the ballot box.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/technology/2020/01/24/facebook-is-inflaming-divides-tearing-democratic-party/