ConfirmThem

By Lorie Byrd Posted in Fillibuster — Comments () / Email this page » / Leave a comment »

Betsy Newmark links to and comments on an article in The Hill by Republican pollster, David Hill, about the problems with the polls that have been done on the subject of the judicial filibuster. One of the biggest problems is that most don't understand the filibuster issue, so it first has to be explained to those being polled.

Ask any political-science professor if he’s ever been able satisfactorily to explain the filibuster to a class of daydreaming college freshmen in 50 words or fewer. Even with the specter of a grade hanging over their heads, most students won’t get it the first time. Imagine how attentive a Gallup Poll respondent must be if he’s a 30-something guy watching ESPN while taking the poll, or a mother cooking dinner with a kid on her hip, or a senior citizen straining even to hear the description.

These policy polls all face the same problem. Only a handful of Americans are truly interested in issues. Public polls are fine for election trial heats such as Bush versus Kerry. Voters get that. But policy polls reveal empty heads.

After quoting an excerpt from Hill's piece about how confusing and inadequately some poll questions have been framed, Betsy Newmark makes an excellent point.

You could just as easily frame a question by saying, "As you may know, the filibuster has been used historically to block civil rights legislation. Today the Democrats are using the filibuster to block Bush's judicial nominees. Do you support or oppose the use of the filibuster?" That wouldn't be a fair framing of the question either, but it would have as much historical validity as the question Gallup did choose. Gee, who is against blocking controversial legislation? Of course, they didn't mention that much of that "controversial legislation" involved banning discrimination against blacks. Puts a whole different spin on this sacred right that the Senators all love so much when they're in the minority, doesn't it?

Wow, Betsy hit on a couple of my biggest pet peeves in one post: bogus polls, and the use of the word "controversial" when describing any judicial nominee that Democrats don't like.