Oh for poll results to be reported as a likely band rather than a single number.
For example if a party polls 40% with a 95% margin of error of 5% (to make the maths real easy) then this should be reported as something like "It is very likely that Party X would get between 35% and 45% of the vote if an election was held tomorrow."
It looks like the shoo in over Biden has turned into a really tight race. 538 said yesterday that the majority of voters have made up their mind - early voting starts soon - but the debate on the 10th will be interesting. If Trump performs badly he’ll do great damage but he was restrained and almost lucid on occasion vs Biden. Harris is not a good debater and the nervous laugh - the cackle - puts off Republicans. Does it worry swingers? This election is hers to lose. A bad interview could do it.
Great comments, thanks Max! I guess I'll have to watch that debate live and try to report back. Personally, I probably wouldn't have noticed a cackle if Trump had alluded to it, but I'm not a voter there!
“Can’t have women cackling” - i.e the usual disrespectful focus on women politicians’s dress, demeanour, appearance, marital status … so many ways in which our societies stack the deck against women leaders. Call it out, fellas!
It’s nothing to do with women, Kai. It’s totally a Harris thing. Her cackle is famous and it annoys people, men and women. Personally I detest Trump but it’s nothing to do with him being a man.
I disagree, Max. Your answer assumes that women can’t be sexist. My point is that a behavioural quirk such as a cackle of a female politician is judged more harshly than it would be in a male politician – more harshly by the whole electorate, not just by men. There’s a weird mix of expectations about female politicians, including that they’ll be “ladylike’”, whereas there’s much more tolerance of bad behaviour in male politicians. A male politician can have an extramarital affair and still be electable; for a female politician such an affair would be political death. We’re all still immersed in patriarchal thinking, which finds many relevant reasons to belittle and dismiss female leaders. Male commentators need to call this double standard out, as male voices on this point are less likely to be dismissed.
It blew my mind when I learnt people used to be able to bet on political polls. Including the politicians.
I never laid bets myself, but those prediction markets were quite useful to watch!
Oh for poll results to be reported as a likely band rather than a single number.
For example if a party polls 40% with a 95% margin of error of 5% (to make the maths real easy) then this should be reported as something like "It is very likely that Party X would get between 35% and 45% of the vote if an election was held tomorrow."
That would be great! It would overcome the sensationalised reporting.
It looks like the shoo in over Biden has turned into a really tight race. 538 said yesterday that the majority of voters have made up their mind - early voting starts soon - but the debate on the 10th will be interesting. If Trump performs badly he’ll do great damage but he was restrained and almost lucid on occasion vs Biden. Harris is not a good debater and the nervous laugh - the cackle - puts off Republicans. Does it worry swingers? This election is hers to lose. A bad interview could do it.
Great comments, thanks Max! I guess I'll have to watch that debate live and try to report back. Personally, I probably wouldn't have noticed a cackle if Trump had alluded to it, but I'm not a voter there!
“Can’t have women cackling” - i.e the usual disrespectful focus on women politicians’s dress, demeanour, appearance, marital status … so many ways in which our societies stack the deck against women leaders. Call it out, fellas!
It’s nothing to do with women, Kai. It’s totally a Harris thing. Her cackle is famous and it annoys people, men and women. Personally I detest Trump but it’s nothing to do with him being a man.
I disagree, Max. Your answer assumes that women can’t be sexist. My point is that a behavioural quirk such as a cackle of a female politician is judged more harshly than it would be in a male politician – more harshly by the whole electorate, not just by men. There’s a weird mix of expectations about female politicians, including that they’ll be “ladylike’”, whereas there’s much more tolerance of bad behaviour in male politicians. A male politician can have an extramarital affair and still be electable; for a female politician such an affair would be political death. We’re all still immersed in patriarchal thinking, which finds many relevant reasons to belittle and dismiss female leaders. Male commentators need to call this double standard out, as male voices on this point are less likely to be dismissed.
I meant “irrelevant reasons”.