This POLL talk about fear of expressing one political view to others, not fear about answering polls. It's a leap to connect the two. And if you don't trust poll, why would you trust this poll? Polls can be wrong. Anecdotal evidences are often wrong. I don't know if there are some silent "majority" but from my own anecdotal evidences, it's a wash. I certainty cannot assure you it is one and if I do that, I would be elevating my own limited experience - I wouldn't trust it myself.
52 million Americans unemployed as of this morning. That’s a much more telling stat that’ll affect how people vote in November than any random poll can show otherwise.
To be fair the Dems had such a horrific candidate that more Americans preferred the rich, egotistical, prick. #giantdouchevsturdsandwich
I'll agree that there is a fear of the angry tweet and potential cancel culture. When we've see people getting fired for a minute's worth of them acting bad on video I get the feeling a lot of people are feeling nervous out there. I'm sure in the mind of all of the "Karens" they probably felt they were doing the right thing and as such there are probably a lot of people who feel it might be best just to censor themselves. I think this explains a good chunk of the support for Trump, that he "tells it they way it is." and "Isn't politically correct." He's giving voice to those who feel they their voice is suppressed because of societal pressure. There certainly is good reason to censor yourself at times and if many of those Karens just took a minute or two to think about what they were doing before opening their mouths a lot of trouble for them might've been avoided. Whether right or wrong I can see though how self-censorship might skew impressions of where our politics are.
It's hard to be a reasonable and objective person these days because you will be hated every time you speak. "Social media amplifies everything. If you’re mildly left wing on Twitter you’re suddenly Trotsky. If you’re mildly conservative you’re Hitler, and if you’re centrist and you look at both arguments, you’re a coward and they both hate you" - Ricky Gervais
Nixon's silent majority co-opted by Trump and his sycophants. I'm shocked. Is Manifest Destiny next? LMK
Not a leap at all. Also this poll is not about something that will get you fired. People care more about safety than vocalizing support for what modern society has unfairly demonized as Hitler 2.0 and you therefore a nazi. I don't think you are taking into account how people are being fired for supporting the president.
The goal is a well functioning democratic style Republic. We're failing right now. But honestly, the negative impact of Republican Presidencies over the last 40 years cannot be overstated. The middle and lower classes in this country are all paying a huge price for it.
No chance that any significant number of people are afraid to express their views to a random pollster. Any poll I’ve filled out has been online or to a voice where they give no expression through tone (or obviously through facial expression because I can’t see them). The “silent majority” angle only applies when factoring in who may or may not participate in a poll to begin with because they don’t want to take the time to do it. Anyone who actually participates in a poll will give an honest answer, why wouldn’t they? That’s not to say their opinion could not change over time, but I believe polls are an accurate snapshot when they’re conducted.
I think you are dismissing the culture of fear the left created... and how that plays out in phone polling especially. People are used to lying at this point. Also good point about people not partaking. Maybe the Trump supporters simply hang up.
Yes I do believe liberals are more likely to participate in the first place. However I think pollsters factor this in somehow; as in they wait until they have a roughly even distribution of left/right leaning respondents before they publish results
Maybe but it is likely hard to define left and right leaning... some people here honestly think they are centrists and they are calling for overhauls to every aspect of life. Polls are polls at the end of the day and the silent majority explains why Trump pulled out a W when everyone reading polls thought Hilary had it in the bag. I have yet to see an explanation as to why those polls were so off and what can be fixed that sounds right; save for the fact that we know who actually won when it came down to anonymous voting. That data showed us how polls measure up to the truth. This recent poll is likely flawed some but in general it captures what we have seen in reality from our elections and how they stack up to polling and the culture we are part of and the fact that people supporting Trump are not safe to share these views and are often hiding it. I know people I never thought would vote Trump who are considering arming themselves in these times and fearful of a DNC victory. They have lost friends and family connections over simply not falling in line with mainstream leftism. I promise you they are not isolated. There are many of them who will give Trump a vote because he is a veto to the direction we have been heading as a culture.
For me, it's a leap, or at least I would need to make many assumptions to go from applying a fear of expressing political opinion to a fear of answering polls truthfully. One is known by self and the audience the political opinion is expressed toward, while the other is known by self and maybe the interviewer. They have very different level of personal fear. For example, you mentioned a fear of being fired - that fear could be real when expressing to others or in a public forum such as twitter, but that fear does not exists for answering polls.
I think if you give more relevance to the popular vote..... It should have gone to Overtime and another round of votes in key states. I know it is not possible but modifying the voting system would have been sweet.
Can we place some agency on the voters who genuinely thought Hillary Clinton was worse than Donald Trump?
