Majority of Republicans think Trump is a better President than Lincoln
In a recent poll certain demographics were posed with a simple yet extremely dumb question: Who is the better President? Donald Trump or Abraham Lincoln?
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First off, i don't trust any polls that are conducted by any sort of news media even when the responsible party is one of the only respectable news sources remaining on the planet (for now.)
Unsurprisingly, when Democrats were asked who was better 94% said that Lincoln was the obvious answer (personally i'm surprised that 6% answered Trump.) The somewhat surprising part that should be a little bit concerned to Democrats is that nearly 25% of Independents chose Trump as the answer to the question.
I don't think it is too much of a stretch to suggest that a lot of the people who answered "Trump" as the better president are perhaps driven by the constant barrage of attacks against the man, and the masterful way in which he has rallied his base around him. I know about an equal amount of people on both sides of the "political fence" and the amount of insistence of their side being the "correct side" is something I've never seen before in my life.
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Despite the fact that I haven't voted for a mainstream candidate since George Bush Jr's first term, I will admit the the level of media vitriol and constant whining and protesting has at times, pushed me to support the Don. This is almost certainly much more prevalent in someone that supported him in the first place. There is no denying that when he is "preaching to the choir" that he is extremely good at it.
However, when I look at people suggesting that President Trump is "better" than a person who is widely regarded as one of the greatest world leaders in all of American history, I can't help but imagine "what are you guys thinking?" when they answer that question. I also wonder WTF the media is doing with their money / time when the construct a poll like this because seriously guys? What is the point of all this?
I would imagine the point is probably to paint Republicans as idiots and there is no doubt in my mind that there are idiots in their ranks. There are also lots of idiots in the Democrat ranks and if you have ever had the opportunity to talk to a strong supporter of a fringe party like the Green Party, this is where the crossover from "idiot" to "nutjob" starts to appear.
It is also worth noting that these polls use extremely small sample sizes and attempt to make it appear as though it is the prevailing opinion of a much much much larger group of people. There are more than 240 million registered voters in the USA and this poll's sample audience was a mere 1,500 people.
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Steve and Julie said that everyone doesn't like peanut butter, how can all of these people hate peanut butter?
To put this in perspective let's imagine that I had a massive mob of 320,000 people gathered. Obviously i don't have enough time to interview all of them, so i grab 2 people out of this massive crowd, write down their words, and then suggest that this is the opinion of the entire mob.
It's a stupid poll about a topic that has absolutely zero bearing on anything at all. I am genuinely surprised that the Economist would engage in such a thing as I feel like they are one of the only non partisan outlets in existence.
I know some people that are insanely devoted to Trump and even they, if they were being honest, would not suggest that DJT is "better" than Lincoln, whatever that even means.
Online polls don't usually mean much but the result is astounding to think 6% of democrats voted in favour of trump. They probably clicked by accident or maybe read "who's the worst between them" 😂.
I remember a great many polls before the 2016 election... those were always correct :)
There should be a phrase like "once in a blue moon" or something similar there
You just can't compare and these polls mean absolutely nothing. Making a story to create a story is what the media. do.
The Douche vs Turd from South Park comes to mind. Many people see the push by the Democratic candidates into far left territory as a bad thing, and wonder why the moderates are being dragged through the mud.
The enemy of your enemy is sometimes just another turd on your shit list. Trump can be a means to an end, but there's nothing typically 'presidential' about his behavior.
The Giant Douche vs the Turd Sandwich lol. Yeah, that one was great... or the Simpsons episode where it is revealed that both of the major candidates are actually aliens intent on enslaving the planet yet everyone still feels obligated to vote for one of them.
I wish people would look into 3rd parties a bit more, they have gained some momentum in the past few election cycles but even Independents, despite constituting a larger portion of the voting pool than Dems and Repubs combined, still vote major party out of fear of the candidate they really don't like instead of the one that they do like.
I have "thrown my vote away" for 20 years but have a clear conscious about it. :)
Trump is a terrible human being, a liar and a con man and an awful president who has made America look ridiculous and idiotic in the eyes of the world. What he has been very good at, though, is tapping into the deep disillusionment of the working class with an economic system that has robbed them of jobs and opportunities and which they (correctly) see as rigged. Of course Trump's professed desire to help the average working Joe and MAGA and 'bring the jobs back' is all nonsense (him being a fully paid up member of the billionaire class...), but that's another story!
Very good points at the end of your post there. Sample size is so key when you are talking about anything. I always take any results I hear with a grain of salt. We do a survey every year to the parents asking how they think our school district is doing. At the beginning of the next year the big boss shares the results and talks about how people think we are performing. He always highlights the positive saying 90% feel we are doing great. That is 90% of the respondents though. If we have 2600 parents and only 80 of them bothered doing the survey, that 90% is pretty skewed! I always point that out very quietly to my wife :)
lol..so true gooddream. Even the most ardent Trump supporters aren't going to claim he's better than Lincoln. What a waste of time that poll was! The poll sucked but your write up about it is excellent.
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