Reply #15: it is not 50% of the American people who support the bushgang

[leftofthedial]

it is 50% of likely voters. "Likely voters" can mean pretty much whatever a particular pollster wants it to mean. Usually, it means people who are registered to vote and who plan to vote this time. The right wing has been very successful at mobilizing its voters in the past, so they are disproportionately represented in these polls. Pollsters also apply other filters on this number, so the basis for the polls is actually much smaller than the overall US population.

According to the FEC, 51.3% of those eligible vote in the US actually voted in 2000. THese are the largest possible base of the "likely voter" population. So "50%" of that 51%, less the other criteria pollsters use, really only represents about 20% of Americans. That is still an appallingly large number of stupid, ignorant or evil Americans, but nowhere near half of Americans support the bushgang.

The pressing question is why are so many Americans disaffected?