Today’s CNN poll is a useful reminder that survey respondents can be… strange sometimes. Say, how do you think Republicans feel about the way Obama is handing gas prices? You figure you have to look far and wide to find a Republican who’s happy with our current $4 per gallon and up, right?
In CNN’s poll, 15% of Republicans approve of how Obama is handing gas prices. Among self-described conservatives, 12 percent approve of how Obama is handling the issue, and 7 percent of self-described “Tea Party supporters” approve of how Obama is handling that issue.
Moving along to the deficit, we see similar small, but distinct portions of groups usually strongly opposing to Obama expressing approval of him to CNN. The survey finds 14 percent of Republicans approving of the way Obama is handling the deficit, 13 percent of conservatives approving, and 8 percent of self-described “Tea Party supporters” supporting him.
Overall, 27 percent of Republicans approve of how Obama is handling his job as president; 27 percent of conservatives approve, and 17 percent of self-described “Tea Party supporters” approve of how Obama is handling his duties.
Mischief-makers? Folks who don’t really know what their political identity is? A lingering OBL-kill effect? Or are there Republicans, conservatives, and Tea Party supporters who really, really want to give Obama the benefit of the doubt?
I think when numbers get into the low teens and especially single-digit range, statistics can be corrupted by mischief makers and the utterly confused. There is probably some segment of the population that likes to screw with pollsters whenever they get the chance, giving some ironic combination of responses that don’t give a fully honest picture of their opinions and demographic characteristics. Some people might just hear a question wrong and give the wrong response in spite of trying to answer honestly. And some people may be answering honestly yet have a combination of opinions that don’t fit the mold. Maybe they think the deficit is a huge problem but have some personal reason for thinking Obama is awesome. Anyway, when a certain question is asked such that about 40-60% answer one way and 40-60% the other way (e.g., presidential approval rating), people who give inaccurate answers probably cancel each other out, but the same cancelling effect is not nearly as strong below 20% or above 80%. I don’t believe that more than 5% of actual tea partiers or conservatives support Obama on the deficit or gas prices, but to get a poll showing less than 5% support on these questions would require a poll sample consisting almost entirely of conscientious, undistracted, and honest respondents who aren’t prone to hitting the wrong button or saying the wrong choice.
Reply to this commentLinkReport Abusemany of these are false flag liberals who claim Tea Party affiliation for polls to skew the MSM preception of the Tea Party ...
Reply to this commentLinkReport AbuseSomeone needs to Fisk that poll. And that someone's initials are "J.G.".
Reply to this commentLinkReport AbuseIts a CNN poll. You know it isn't worth anything.
Reply to this commentLinkReport AbuseI don't know, but that CNN journalist--what's her name, Candy Cruller?--was very excited by this poll. Gallup meanwhile has Obama dropping to 46%.
Reply to this commentLinkReport AbuseGreat captcha and hopefully applies to the current resident of the WH - one hit wonder.
CNN Poll? Who is gullible enough to believe any of their polls!
Reply to this commentLinkReport AbuseI think the 17% may have seen these charts:
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