# I Pit 53% of Republicans **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [February 3, 2010, 9:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-53-of-republicans/527585 "2010-02-03T21:09:28Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e99b99/32.png) [@Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Diogenes_the_Cynic)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2010, 2:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-53-of-republicans/527585/61 "2010-02-04T02:43:00Z")
> [@A Monkey With a Gun](#): > > Fucking hell man, do I have to point this out to you? The _third_ question is whether not Obama should be impeached, and then the next four are not even close to random. “Do you believe Barack Obama was born in the United States, or not? Do you think Barack Obama is a socialist? Do you believe Barack Obama wants the terrorists to win? Do you believe ACORN stole the 2008 election?” > > Fucking Hell. That is _not_ how you design a unbiased questionaire. If they’re biased, they’re biased to get the OPPOSITE results of what they got. Jesus Christ. ---
**Author:** ![Lobohan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lobohan/32/79_2.png) [@Lobohan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lobohan)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2010, 2:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-53-of-republicans/527585/62 "2010-02-04T02:43:25Z")
> [@A Monkey With a Gun](#): > > Fucking hell man, do I have to point this out to you? The _third_ question is whether not Obama should be impeached, and then the next four are not even close to random. “Do you believe Barack Obama was born in the United States, or not? Do you think Barack Obama is a socialist? Do you believe Barack Obama wants the terrorists to win? Do you believe ACORN stole the 2008 election?” > > Fucking Hell. That is _not_ how you design a questionaire. Why isn’t it? How do you find out if someone wants Obama impeached without asking them? A biased question would be, “Due to unprecedented debt he has saddled our children with, and his weakness on terrorism, do you think Obama should be impeached?” Do you see the difference? I know exactly what is happening here. You got shown to be wrong and you’re deciding to double down instead of admit it. I understand, it sucks to be wrong. But it sucks much worse to create a fantasy world where you are the one right and everyone else is blindly attacking you. C’mon, dude. Step into the light! [waves\_banana] ---
**Author:** ![Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e99b99/32.png) [@Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Diogenes_the_Cynic)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2010, 2:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-53-of-republicans/527585/63 "2010-02-04T02:44:21Z")
> [@Jman](#): > > Then how do you? None of those questions are worded ambiguously. None of them are worded in a manner that would cause someone to answer one way when they really meant the opposite. THOSE are misleading polls. This is about as straightforward as it gets. Ask me those questions, and it’s a pretty damn easy " No, Yes, No, No, No. " What’s so hard about that? He doesn’t understand how a biased poll question is defined. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Tooth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/c67d28/32.png) [@The\_Tooth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Tooth)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2010, 2:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-53-of-republicans/527585/64 "2010-02-04T02:56:59Z")
> [@A Monkey With a Gun](#): > > Fucking hell man, do I have to point this out to you? The _third_ question is whether not Obama should be impeached, and then the next four are not even close to random. “Do you believe Barack Obama was born in the United States, or not? Do you think Barack Obama is a socialist? Do you believe Barack Obama wants the terrorists to win? Do you believe ACORN stole the 2008 election?” > > Fucking Hell. That is _not_ how you design a unbiased questionaire. It’s how you go about discovering just how many Republicans believe what they’re told on Fox News and AM radio. How else would you go about discovering if someone thinks Barack Obama is a US citizen or not? That’s what this poll is about. Every questionnaire is biased towards finding out the information the questioner wants to know. If the answers indicated that 99% of Republicans thought Obama was a US citizen - really, it’s beyond me how anyone other than the heavily concussed could think otherwise - or 88% thought gay people could teach in public schools, would you still think these questions were sneaky in some way? What sort of unbiased questions would you prefer? White meat or dark meat? Boxers or briefs? Man on top or woman on bottom? ---
**Author:** ![armedmonkey](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/d6d6ee/32.png) [@armedmonkey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/armedmonkey)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2010, 3:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-53-of-republicans/527585/65 "2010-02-04T03:00:06Z")
You two are the reason the reason the 'pubs are going to win. fuck, idiocy isn’t along party lines. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Tooth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/c67d28/32.png) [@The\_Tooth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Tooth)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2010, 3:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-53-of-republicans/527585/66 "2010-02-04T03:00:24Z")
> [@Lobohan](#): > > Why isn’t it? How do you find out if someone wants Obama impeached without asking them? “Do you watch Glenn Beck? Yes/No” ---
**Author:** ![The\_Tooth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/c67d28/32.png) [@The\_Tooth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Tooth)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2010, 3:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-53-of-republicans/527585/67 "2010-02-04T03:01:32Z")
> [@A Monkey With a Gun](#): > > You two are the reason the reason the 'pubs are going to win. > > fuck. I am half-drunk with power. ---
**Author:** ![John\_Mace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_mace/32/185_2.png) [@John\_Mace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Mace)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2010, 3:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-53-of-republicans/527585/68 "2010-02-04T03:03:52Z")
> [@Ludovic](#): > > Many many posters on this board thought W wanted the terrorists to win? Cite? Uhm, did you read what I was responding to? That post didn’t say anything about Bush wanting the terrorists to win. > [@OP](#): > > I never doubted his patriotism or his desire to do good for the country…I just disagreed with his methods and wished for someone with better critical thinking skills. Many, many posters here doubted that. ---
**Author:** ![Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e99b99/32.png) [@Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Diogenes_the_Cynic)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2010, 3:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-53-of-republicans/527585/69 "2010-02-04T03:06:32Z")
The truther shit got excoriated mercilessly here. ---
**Author:** ![Lobohan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lobohan/32/79_2.png) [@Lobohan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lobohan)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2010, 3:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-53-of-republicans/527585/70 "2010-02-04T03:06:35Z")
> [@A Monkey With a Gun](#): > > You two are the reason the reason the 'pubs are going to win. > > fuck, idiocy isn’t along party lines. It isn’t always. But right now, in 2010, it really seems to be. Most of the sane people have left the Republicans, those that remain are largely morons of one type or the other. If you’re the last sane Republican, well it’s a pleasure to meet you. None of this changes the fact that you’re just handwaving about the poll. It appears fine, and unless they got their call list from a mental hospital, it appears above board. ---
**Author:** ![River\_Hippie](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/river_hippie/32/26_2.png) [@River\_Hippie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/River_Hippie)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2010, 3:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-53-of-republicans/527585/71 "2010-02-04T03:20:46Z")
> [@Cort](#): > > As an aside, I occasionally manage to eke a drop of mordant amusement from winding up Tea-Partiers on various right-wing forums. Based on my experience I have absolutely no trouble whatsoever believing that a majority of Republicans think Palin could do a better job of governing America than Obama. Among these people, and there are _tens of millions of them_, Obama hatred is a very powerful force. You can always tell who the moderates are on these forums because they only think Obama’s an ardant socialist who wants to turn America into 3rd world socialist dystopia. The rest think he’s a Marxist bone-in-the-nose witchdoctor with a bogus birth certificate who was sent from Kenya as a Manchurian candidate to allow the terrorists to destroy our freedoms. I know this hardly constitutes a scientific poll but if you’re in any doubt about the strength of these people’s feelings then you need to read around a bit more. You can start [here](http://www.nicedoggie.net). It’s quite a popular site and gets about 2000 unique hits a day. Then of course there’s Free Republic, Hannity’s forum, and tons of other places where you can watch the Tea Partiers forment and spin these little webs of conspiracy 24-7-365. > > Conversely, to these people Sarah Palin represents everything that’s good and wholesome about America. You don’t need to crowbar your mind open very wide to accommodate the possibility that these people would prefer her as President. I agree with this, I live in the midwest, I am completely surrounded by people that believe “common sense” Sara is exactly what this country needs because…because…“She’s a MOM!” ---
**Author:** ![armedmonkey](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/d6d6ee/32.png) [@armedmonkey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/armedmonkey)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2010, 3:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-53-of-republicans/527585/72 "2010-02-04T03:33:58Z")
**lobohan** try to keep up. > [@A Monkey With a Gun](#): > > In short, though I am a blue dog democrat, I know bullshit when I see it. I AM a democrat, NOT a republican. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Second\_Stone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/bbe5ce/32.png) [@The\_Second\_Stone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Second_Stone)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2010, 3:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-53-of-republicans/527585/73 "2010-02-04T03:38:02Z")
> [@A Monkey With a Gun](#): > > Hey! > > If that’s a reference about my user name, that’s fair game. But if you mean that I don’t have a debatable point, fuck off. It’s not just either/or, it could also be neither/both. Ambiguity can be artistic, ya know. > [@A Monkey With a Gun](#): > > **lobohan** try to keep up. > > I AM a democrat, NOT a republican. I do a lot of voter registration. Are you sure we can’t convince you to re-register as a republican? They had a lot of success with their chimp with a gun. Incidentally, you debate exactly like a monkey with a gun. ---
**Author:** ![Lobohan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lobohan/32/79_2.png) [@Lobohan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lobohan)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2010, 3:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-53-of-republicans/527585/74 "2010-02-04T03:38:34Z")
> [@A Monkey With a Gun](#): > > **lobohan** try to keep up. > > I AM a democrat, NOT a republican. I know what you said. But I’m thinking you might not understand how the divisions go. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2010, 3:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-53-of-republicans/527585/75 "2010-02-04T03:46:35Z")
> [@Argent\_Towers](#): > > The moderate Republicans are drifting away from the party and towards libertarianism, unquestionably. No, the radical-but-not-religious-right Republicans are doing that. The moderates, formerly known as “Rockefeller Republicans” – socially liberal, economically pro-business but not ideologically hostile to a regulated economy or a welfare state – are drifting towards the Dems, or did so a long time ago. In fact, that’s a pretty good description of the Democratic Leadership Council, which has controlled the Democratic Party at least since 1992. ---
**Author:** ![Euphonious\_Polemic](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/euphonious_polemic/32/3002_2.png) [@Euphonious\_Polemic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Euphonious_Polemic)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2010, 5:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-53-of-republicans/527585/76 "2010-02-04T05:37:10Z")
> [@A Monkey With a Gun](#): > > **Euphonious Polemic** , the burden of proof is on **Jman**. Call me a skeptic, but I do not believe that the great white hunter in heels is viewed by Republicans as a viable alternative. OK, let me try again for you: - **Jman** links to a poll that shows many Republicans believe some crazy shit. -You claim the poll is biased, because it was commissioned by someone with an agenda. - and you think the ‘burden of proof" is on **Jman**? You have accused someone of comissioning a poll to produce false results, and you have accused a polling company of producing a poll with wrong results, based on the evidence of… wait for it… your evidence is… you don’t actually have any. It’s just self-evident. You don’t like the order of the questions. And you’ve shown you don’ t know SHIT about polling. It is NOT Jman’s responsibility to prove that the polling company is innocent of the charges you have brought against them. That’s not how it works. YOU made the charge of biased polling. YOU have the burden to prove your charge. YOU have done a crappy job of that so far. All YOU have done is handwave at the questions themselves, and say you don’t like them. Its not too late to request a name change to **Monkey without a brain.** ---
**Author:** ![armedmonkey](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/d6d6ee/32.png) [@armedmonkey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/armedmonkey)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2010, 5:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-53-of-republicans/527585/77 "2010-02-04T05:48:16Z")
so, um… “the great white hunter in heels” _is_ viewed by Republicans as a viable alternative? ---
**Author:** ![Euphonious\_Polemic](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/euphonious_polemic/32/3002_2.png) [@Euphonious\_Polemic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Euphonious_Polemic)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2010, 6:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-53-of-republicans/527585/78 "2010-02-04T06:10:03Z")
> [@A Monkey With a Gun](#): > > so, um… “the great white hunter in heels” _is_ viewed by Republicans as a viable alternative? We don’t know, because the poll did not ask that question. (Is Sarah Palin viewed by you as a viable alternative?) The question was: Do you believe Sarah Palin is more qualified to be President than Barack Obama? 53% of Republicans said “yes” in this poll. I’m not sure how they identified who was a Republican or not - the article does not say. Self-identified? There may be many explanations for this result: -I happen to agree that many of the more centrist-leaning Republicans have left the party, and would not identify as “Republican” anymore. (more research would need to be done to see if this is correct) -People may have answered “yes” out of a dislike of Obama more than a like of Palin (some of the answers about Obama point to this as a possibility) -Some may have answered “yes” because of the residual effects of the last election, where the Republican tactics were to hammer on Obama’s perceived lack of experience and qualifications to be president. (Palin had experience as a Governor, doncha know) (can’t tease this out of the poll; more research would need to be done) Or, the explanation that you seem to favour: - The poll question may have been twisted or biased in some way to produce results that were intended to embarass the Republicans because it was commissioned by a Democrat. (hint - this is most likely not the correct explanation - it would need some proof) ---
**Author:** ![Yookeroo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/yookeroo/32/323_2.png) [@Yookeroo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Yookeroo)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2010, 7:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-53-of-republicans/527585/79 "2010-02-04T07:44:09Z")
> [@A Monkey With a Gun](#): > > **Euphonious Polemic** , the burden of proof is on **Jman**. Call me a skeptic, but I do not believe that the great white hunter in heels is viewed by Republicans as a viable alternative. Been hiding under that shell for long? > [@A Monkey With a Gun](#): > > fuck, idiocy isn’t along party lines. Indeed. **Gonzomax** apparently has competition. ---
**Author:** ![tagos](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/bbe5ce/32.png) [@tagos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tagos)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2010, 11:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-53-of-republicans/527585/80 "2010-02-04T11:45:32Z")
> [@A Monkey With a Gun](#): > > My point was most polls are bullshit, biased, and meaningless. > > Or maybe Dewey really _did_ defeat Truman. well, then your point is as intellectually challenged then. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-53-of-republicans/527585.md?page=3) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-53-of-republicans/527585.md?page=5)