# Bush Voters Nt Stupid - They Know More Than You **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [November 9, 2004, 10:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bush-voters-nt-stupid-they-know-more-than-you/273909 "2004-11-09T22:18:53Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 6\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![rjung](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/45deac/32.png) [@rjung](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rjung)\ **Post date:** [November 11, 2004, 12:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bush-voters-nt-stupid-they-know-more-than-you/273909/41 "2004-11-11T00:29:55Z")
> [@Bricker](#): > > Um… the majority of the rest of the populace believed he should get a second term and that the GOP should get more Senate and House seats. And 48% of the popoulace believe he _shouldn’t_ get a second term. Or, in other words, a 2% edge does not a mandate make. What was that about cognitive dissonance again? ---
**Author:** ![PunditLisa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/4af34b/32.png) [@PunditLisa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PunditLisa)\ **Post date:** [November 11, 2004, 12:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bush-voters-nt-stupid-they-know-more-than-you/273909/42 "2004-11-11T00:49:02Z")
> [@](#): > > This lumps together two rather disparate points. Oh, absolutely. This was done deliberately, too, because I wanted to illustrate how you can spin the data any old way you want to support your agenda. Clearly the editor at the NYT is biased. Not only because he used what I believe to be a left-leaning polling company (look at their questions), but he also twisted the data to suit his purposes. For instance, he said that 70% of Bush supporters believe there was a Hussein/al-queda link. He either rounded 63% up to 70% (top of page 4) or he combined two answers (top of page 5). Note also how the OPer and NYT editor twisted words around (“A third of the president’s supporters [know] weapons of mass destruction were found in Iraq.”) to make it seem that the Bush responders were even more “stupid” than the poll indicates. There’s a world of difference between “Knowing that weapons of mass destruction were found in Iraq.” and “believing that prior to the war, Iraq possessed actual weapons of mass destruction.” So, yes, I did a deliberate spin on the data. It would have been rather disingenuous of me to start an OP with the title, “Dems are stupid” and then go on to report that "according to a recent poll by the University of Maryland’s PIPA, 1 out of 3 Kerry supporters thought that Iraq either gave “substantial” support to al-queda or that they were directly involved in the bombings of 9/11… " Yet that is what both the NYT editor and the OPer did. It would have been _technically_ true but substantially biased. I linked to the actual data set so that people could see how I arrived at my “technically correct but substantially biased” conclusions. And then they could look back at the OP with a jaundiced eye. That is how we should all approach these editorials and OPs: What is their agenda and how are they twisting the data? ---
**Author:** ![LouisB](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/dfb087/32.png) [@LouisB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LouisB)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2004, 8:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bush-voters-nt-stupid-they-know-more-than-you/273909/43 "2004-11-12T20:01:41Z")
> [@World Eater](#): > > Don’t be so hard on yourself. Actually, I was refering to that **Blackacre** person. It wasn’t a very clear and cogent posting, was it? Sorry you took it personally; I apologize for my lack of clarity. ---
**Author:** ![World\_Eater](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/f04885/32.png) [@World\_Eater](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/World_Eater)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2004, 8:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bush-voters-nt-stupid-they-know-more-than-you/273909/44 "2004-11-12T20:10:23Z")
> [@LouisB](#): > > Actually, I was refering to that **Blackacre** person. It wasn’t a very clear and cogent posting, was it? Sorry you took it personally; I apologize for my lack of clarity. No problem. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![furt](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/439d5e/32.png) [@furt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/furt)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2004, 8:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bush-voters-nt-stupid-they-know-more-than-you/273909/45 "2004-11-12T20:18:21Z")
> [@Rubystreak](#): > > See, it’s not an issue of Bush voters being morons. They are just un- or misinformed, … > > How do I know this? My father and brother, both of whom I love dearly, fully support Bush. Oh, but, see all Kerry voters are equally uninformed. See I know a person who voted for Kerry, and she uncritically believes everything she hears on NPR. Obviously, all democrats are just like her. ---
**Author:** ![Blalron](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/35a633/32.png) [@Blalron](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Blalron)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2004, 9:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bush-voters-nt-stupid-they-know-more-than-you/273909/46 "2004-11-12T21:03:03Z")
> [@furt](#): > > Oh, but, see all Kerry voters are equally uninformed. See I know a person who voted for Kerry, and she uncritically believes everything she hears on NPR. Obviously, all democrats are just like her. As much as you conservatives love to trot out NPR as as the Fox News of the left, it just isn’t so. NPR actually is a balanced news source, and I’ve seen absolutely no evidence to the contrary. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bush-voters-nt-stupid-they-know-more-than-you/273909.md?page=2)