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What Exactly did the Two Thirds Tell Obama?

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  • What Exactly did the Two Thirds Tell Obama?

    I'm still trying to figure this out.... Obama, the day after the election whereby the Democrats discovered they were losing the Senate, said "to everyone who voted, I want you to know that I hear you. To the two thirds of voters who chose not to participate in the process yesterday, I hear you, too.”

    Since you can't "exit poll" those who didn't vote, what is it Obama "heard them" say?

    Has there been any polling or research to know what they DID say?
    The first to state his case seems right until another comes and cross-examines him.

  • #2
    Originally posted by Cow Poke View Post
    I'm still trying to figure this out.... Obama, the day after the election whereby the Democrats discovered they were losing the Senate, said "to everyone who voted, I want you to know that I hear you. To the two thirds of voters who chose not to participate in the process yesterday, I hear you, too.”

    Since you can't "exit poll" those who didn't vote, what is it Obama "heard them" say?

    Has there been any polling or research to know what they DID say?
    Yes, it's done rather frequently. It's called issue polling.
    "I wonder about the trees. / Why do we wish to bear / Forever the noise of these / More than another noise / So close to our dwelling place?" — Robert Frost, "The Sound of Trees"

    Comment


    • #3
      Originally posted by Sam View Post
      Yes, it's done rather frequently. It's called issue polling.
      Please point to the part of the "issue polling" that identifies the two thirds, Sam. And what was it Obama supposedly heard them say?
      The first to state his case seems right until another comes and cross-examines him.

      Comment


      • #4
        Originally posted by Cow Poke View Post
        Please point to the part of the "issue polling" that identifies the two thirds, Sam. And what was it Obama supposedly heard them say?
        Issue polling is often broken down into demographics, including by party, ideology, race, age and sex. One can fairly easily cross-reference the demographic breakdown among issue polls with the demographic breakdown among the 2014 voting sample and get a rough but realistic understanding.

        For example, we know that a majority of Americans don't want to repeal the ACA, do support a minimum wage increase, and support some path to citizenship for undocumented residents. We can reasonably ascertain that a majority of 2014 voters, for the most part, disagree with those and other policy positions.

        I'm sure you remember Nixon's appeal to the "silent majority." Same concept, for better or worse.
        "I wonder about the trees. / Why do we wish to bear / Forever the noise of these / More than another noise / So close to our dwelling place?" — Robert Frost, "The Sound of Trees"

        Comment


        • #5
          I took an exit poll and an issue poll. Well err tried. Some of the answers I simply crossed out and umm wrote in my own answers. The surveys even the non yes or no questions are simply far to "black/white" and non human. These questions are designed to be asked for people who don't think or have no brain, and are VERY biased. Obviously mine won't be counted.
          A happy family is but an earlier heaven.
          George Bernard Shaw

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          • #6
            As an anarcho-capitalist and non-voter, I very much doubt he "heard" me. Hahaha.

            "Fire is catching. If we burn, you burn with us!"
            "I'm not going anywhere. I'm going to stay here and cause all kinds of trouble."
            Katniss Everdeen


            Christ our Passover has been sacrificed for us. Therefore let us keep the feast.

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            • #7
              Originally posted by Sam View Post
              Issue polling is often broken down into demographics, including by party, ideology, race, age and sex. One can fairly easily cross-reference the demographic breakdown among issue polls with the demographic breakdown among the 2014 voting sample and get a rough but realistic understanding.

              For example, we know that a majority of Americans don't want to repeal the ACA, do support a minimum wage increase, and support some path to citizenship for undocumented residents. We can reasonably ascertain that a majority of 2014 voters, for the most part, disagree with those and other policy positions.

              I'm sure you remember Nixon's appeal to the "silent majority." Same concept, for better or worse.
              Well, when you're done kabuki dancing, Sam, perhaps you'll come up with an actual answer to the question.... what was it these TWO THIRDS who DID NOT VOTE... what was it they "told" Obama? Other than, perhaps, "hey dude, you're on your own!"
              The first to state his case seems right until another comes and cross-examines him.

              Comment


              • #8
                Originally posted by Cow Poke View Post
                Well, when you're done kabuki dancing, Sam, perhaps you'll come up with an actual answer to the question.... what was it these TWO THIRDS who DID NOT VOTE... what was it they "told" Obama? Other than, perhaps, "hey dude, you're on your own!"
                I provided three examples. But you're asking a question that doesn't have a precise answer because the statement wasn't intended to be precise. It's Obama saying that he knows a good portion of the voters who elected him (twice, in many cases) didn't show up in 2014 but nevertheless support his policy positions and, therefore, he doesn't need to drastically change them.

                If you want to find out what those policy positions are, consult the 2012 election and issue polling. If you want anything more specific, you're on your own, dude.
                "I wonder about the trees. / Why do we wish to bear / Forever the noise of these / More than another noise / So close to our dwelling place?" — Robert Frost, "The Sound of Trees"

                Comment


                • #9
                  Originally posted by Sam View Post
                  I provided three examples. But you're asking a question that doesn't have a precise answer because the statement wasn't intended to be precise. It's Obama saying that he knows a good portion of the voters who elected him (twice, in many cases) didn't show up in 2014 but nevertheless support his policy positions and, therefore, he doesn't need to drastically change them.

                  If you want to find out what those policy positions are, consult the 2012 election and issue polling. If you want anything more specific, you're on your own, dude.
                  Thanks, Sam... I'll put you down as a resounding "Hell if I know, but I certainly can't admit he was just dodging reality".
                  The first to state his case seems right until another comes and cross-examines him.

                  Comment


                  • #10
                    Originally posted by Cow Poke View Post
                    Thanks, Sam... I'll put you down as a resounding "Hell if I know, but I certainly can't admit he was just dodging reality".
                    I know exactly what Obama meant, which group he was referring to, and I even have a pretty good guess as to which major policy initiatives he was referring to. I'm fairly sure that you do, too. But the darts must be thrown.
                    "I wonder about the trees. / Why do we wish to bear / Forever the noise of these / More than another noise / So close to our dwelling place?" — Robert Frost, "The Sound of Trees"

                    Comment


                    • #11
                      Sam, according to a number of polls in the 2011 NZ elections, Kiwi's did not want some state owned assets sold. National campaigned specifically on selling them, NZ Labour campaigned specifically on them not being sold. National won the election (sending Labour to what was one of their worst results ever, they got an even worse one earlier this year).

                      National claimed (rightly) that they therefore had a mandate to sell 49% of the power companies. Labour tried to claim that the million people who didn't vote (we're a small country only 4.5 million) didn't want National to sell them and therefore they didn't have a mandate.

                      What is your opinion?
                      Be watchful, stand firm in the faith, act like men, be strong.
                      1 Corinthians 16:13

                      "...he [Doherty] is no historian and he is not even conversant with the historical discussions of the very matters he wants to pontificate on."
                      -Ben Witherington III

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                      • #12
                        Originally posted by Sam View Post
                        I provided three examples. But you're asking a question that doesn't have a precise answer because the statement wasn't intended to be precise. It's Obama saying that he knows a good portion of the voters who elected him (twice, in many cases) didn't show up in 2014 but nevertheless support his policy positions and, therefore, he doesn't need to drastically change them.
                        That is a big assumption there. Just like many folks voted for George W. Bush both times became less than pleased toward the end of his second term and could no longer be said to support him or his policy positions the same is almost certainly true with Obama. For him to claim that they are all still on his side is either arrogance, ignorance, political posturing or in all likelihood a bit of all three.

                        I'm always still in trouble again

                        "You're by far the worst poster on TWeb" and "TWeb's biggest liar" --starlight (the guy who says Stalin was a right-winger)
                        "Overall I would rate the withdrawal from Afghanistan as by far the best thing Biden's done" --Starlight
                        "Of course, human life begins at fertilization that’s not the argument." --Tassman

                        Comment


                        • #13
                          Originally posted by Raphael View Post
                          Sam, according to a number of polls in the 2011 NZ elections, Kiwi's did not want some state owned assets sold. National campaigned specifically on selling them, NZ Labour campaigned specifically on them not being sold. National won the election (sending Labour to what was one of their worst results ever, they got an even worse one earlier this year).

                          National claimed (rightly) that they therefore had a mandate to sell 49% of the power companies. Labour tried to claim that the million people who didn't vote (we're a small country only 4.5 million) didn't want National to sell them and therefore they didn't have a mandate.

                          What is your opinion?
                          As Rogue wrote in the other thread, I don't put too much stock on the "mandate" of elections. Here's an article explaining the 2014 GOP "wave" in recent historical context (from The American Conservative, of all places). The party or parties who win elections will rightfully, as Rogue also noted, seek to implement the policies they campaigned on. For the 2014 GOP, that means the almost-certainly contradictory ideas of "compromise" and "stopping Obama." For Obama, that means the ideas of immigration reform, protecting the ACA from legislative sabotage, and growing the economy to the benefit of the middle class. Each party has a responsibility to pursue good legislation and, to a lesser extent, their respective agendas. Past that, the only mandate that really exists is honest representation of the majority of your constituents.
                          "I wonder about the trees. / Why do we wish to bear / Forever the noise of these / More than another noise / So close to our dwelling place?" — Robert Frost, "The Sound of Trees"

                          Comment


                          • #14
                            Originally posted by Raphael View Post
                            Sam, according to a number of polls in the 2011 NZ elections, Kiwi's did not want some state owned assets sold. National campaigned specifically on selling them, NZ Labour campaigned specifically on them not being sold. National won the election (sending Labour to what was one of their worst results ever, they got an even worse one earlier this year).

                            National claimed (rightly) that they therefore had a mandate to sell 49% of the power companies. Labour tried to claim that the million people who didn't vote (we're a small country only 4.5 million) didn't want National to sell them and therefore they didn't have a mandate.

                            What is your opinion?
                            That politicians are the master of spinning the data so that it supports what they want it to support.

                            I'm always still in trouble again

                            "You're by far the worst poster on TWeb" and "TWeb's biggest liar" --starlight (the guy who says Stalin was a right-winger)
                            "Overall I would rate the withdrawal from Afghanistan as by far the best thing Biden's done" --Starlight
                            "Of course, human life begins at fertilization that’s not the argument." --Tassman

                            Comment


                            • #15
                              Originally posted by rogue06 View Post
                              That is a big assumption there. Just like many folks voted for George W. Bush both times became less than pleased toward the end of his second term and could no longer be said to support him or his policy positions the same is almost certainly true with Obama. For him to claim that they are all still on his side is either arrogance, ignorance, political posturing or in all likelihood a bit of all three.
                              It's not an assumption precisely because we still have issue polling. So we can see, for example, that the majority of Americans still don't want Obamacare repealed and that the majority of Americans support a minimum wage increase and that the majority of Americans still want a pathway to citizenship. If the majority of Americans actually turns around on a given issue, like US troop presence in Iraq, then Obama can't maintain his 2012 policy about troops in Iraq and still claim that the "silent majority" is on his side. But that wasn't the case with the examples I provided or any policy position I can think of off the top of my head.
                              "I wonder about the trees. / Why do we wish to bear / Forever the noise of these / More than another noise / So close to our dwelling place?" — Robert Frost, "The Sound of Trees"

                              Comment

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