What does this mean, exactly? And what "news" person decided to run this as a poll's single question? What do they mean by "qualified"? As in: Is she a U.S. citizen of a certain age?... or: did she or did she not say, two weeks before she was nominated, "What is it exactly that the VP does every day?" I am the last person who wants to defend Ms. Palin, BUT - would this question be asked of a man in this position? Would it?
That said, many people (and their special needs kids who SP will most surely send her blessings to if elected) seem to be taking this poll, and many others (who aren't convinced about the blessings) are emailing it around, and screaming about the fact that as of now, YES is in the lead. Clearly it's getting a lot of attention. And we should try to turn it around, is my feeling, even if we don't know what it means. SO: here is the poll. If nothing else, take it to get the numbers straightened out.
And after you've done that, have a good laugh. If you haven't already seen it, last weekend's Saturday Night Live skit showcasing Tina Fey as Sarah Palin should not be missed.
3 comments:
You are right, it's completely suspect, as all these kinds of polls are. They are just too easy to game, which I am sure is what is going on here. I have a feeling Now viewers are much more likely to be among those who immediately donated to the Obama campaign after her speech at the RNC (as i did). That's a much more significant indicator of progressive sentiment on this if you ask me. At Peace Action West we did a poll like this asking people which primary candidates they preferred. It got put up on a couple blogs and we were flooded with a bunch of votes from people who were not our supporters voting for Ron Paul!
Someone put it, in an email exchange, much better than I: "I agree the poll is ridiculous. I would go as far as saying it's irresponsible, but not for gender reasons. I think it's irresponsible to create a nonscientific poll -- one that doesn't even try, no less stand a chance of generating a representative sampling -- on a politically sensitive issue. This poll can be manipulated by either side driving traffic to it, and it can be taken repeatedly from the same computer. Political polls do as much to create a political reality as they do to reflect it. If the poll isn't truly a representative sampling, it's creating the perception of a national opinion that isn't accurate."
A response from PBS: here: http://www.thirteen.org/newsandpublicaffairs/now-poll-do-you-think-sarah-palin-is-qualified-to-serve-as-vp
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