# Most interesting national exit poll results **URL:** \ **Category:** Politics & Elections\ **Created:** [November 5, 2014, 1:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-interesting-national-exit-poll-results/703756 "2014-11-05T13:58:28Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Fotheringay-Phipps](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/d9b06d/32.png) [@Fotheringay-Phipps](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fotheringay-Phipps)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2014, 4:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-interesting-national-exit-poll-results/703756/21 "2014-11-05T16:34:27Z")
> [@adaher](#): > > The Tea PArty doesn’t have the votes to stop a compromise. Not even close. The real problem is the Hastert rule and that’s very easy to overcome. It’s actually possible that Republican gains in the House will lessen the impact of the TP, in that Boehner will have a bigger majority to work with and be less beholden to sub-groups. > [@adaher](#): > > Sean Trende looked at exit polling from the last few elections and found that unlike African-Americans, who are solidly Democratic regardless of income, Latino voters tend to be Democratic because they tend to be poor. Even wealthy Latinos are more likely to vote Democrat than Republican, but the margins aren’t anything for Republicans to worry about given their dominance with the white vote these days. > > the way to do well among Latinos is to make more middle class and wealthy Latinos. Encouraging assimilation is a very Republican way to do that, but also making it easier for this rather entrepenurial people to start businesses also helps. “Mak[ing] more middle class and wealthy” people of any sort is a primary goal of all political systems and is obviously a lot easier said than done as a general rule, and it’s even harder with people who start off at rock bottom and speak a different language than the majority. In addition, the welfare state makes it a lot harder as well, as once people get sucked into a dependent lifestyle it can be hard to get out of it. > [@PastTense](#): > > Why in the world would it change: Democrats generally support gay marriage; Republicans are strongly opposed. Gay marriage is happening by court fiat. Question is once that’s done with are there going to be any more gay-related hot button issues, or are we done? ---
**Author:** ![adaher](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/dec6dc/32.png) [@adaher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/adaher)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2014, 4:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-interesting-national-exit-poll-results/703756/22 "2014-11-05T16:40:31Z")
The wall is a detail, as is biometric whatever at airports. How we keep illegals out is not important, it’s that we do it, or at least make it so that it’s not a problem we measure in the millions. There are so many things, already authorized and fully funded by law, that we can be doing but just aren’t. ---
**Author:** ![adaher](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/dec6dc/32.png) [@adaher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/adaher)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2014, 4:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-interesting-national-exit-poll-results/703756/23 "2014-11-05T16:41:32Z")
> [@PastTense](#): > > Why in the world would it change: Democrats generally support gay marriage; Republicans are strongly opposed. Which has to change. Also, supposedly gays are wealthier than straights. If that’s true, that’s a natural GOP constituency if we don’t oppress them. ---
**Author:** ![Peremensoe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ce7236/32.png) [@Peremensoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Peremensoe)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2014, 4:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-interesting-national-exit-poll-results/703756/24 "2014-11-05T16:41:48Z")
“Real border security” is a pipe dream, for purely practical reasons. Physical interdiction at the border will always cost far more than it can be ‘worth.’ Those who _really_ want to stop illegal immigration would be far better served to drop the fantasy and focus exclusively on internal enforcement. Of course that would be politically difficult, as it would require prosecuting American business owners for illegal hirings. ---
**Author:** ![adaher](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/dec6dc/32.png) [@adaher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/adaher)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2014, 4:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-interesting-national-exit-poll-results/703756/25 "2014-11-05T16:45:31Z")
> [@Fotheringay-Phipps](#): > > “Mak[ing] more middle class and wealthy” people of any sort is a primary goal of all political systems and is obviously a lot easier said than done as a general rule, and it’s even harder with people who start off at rock bottom and speak a different language than the majority. In addition, the welfare state makes it a lot harder as well, as once people get sucked into a dependent lifestyle it can be hard to get out of it.Gay marriage is happening by court fiat. THe government doesn’t “make” people rich or middle class, of course, but Republicans can tie themselves to policies which encourage prosperity and thus as Latinos naturally become more prosperous, they vote more and more Republican. The welfare issue was mostly addressed with the 1996 welfare reform bill. I’m not too concerned about that anymore. > [@](#): > > Question is once that’s done with are there going to be any more gay-related hot button issues, or are we done? One of the issues where Republicans can’t compromise is on religious freedom. That may make things continue to be an open sore even after Republicans have accepted gay marriage, but there’s nothing to be done for that. We just have to hope that American values enshrined in the Bill of Rights will always have the support of the majority, and Republicans will always be seen as the party of the Bill of Rights. Democrats seem happy to concede that to us lately, which to me seems like ideological suicide, but we’ll see. ---
**Author:** ![DigitalC](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ebca7d/32.png) [@DigitalC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DigitalC)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2014, 4:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-interesting-national-exit-poll-results/703756/26 "2014-11-05T16:45:54Z")
> [@adaher](#): > > The Tea PArty doesn’t have the votes to stop a compromise. Not even close. The real problem is the Hastert rule and that’s very easy to overcome. They didn’t have the votes to stop a compromise before and they still did. Using your newly elected senate majority to pass absolutely any kind of immigration reform would be seen as a huge betrayal by the Republican base. [This](http://www.redstate.com/2014/11/05/dear-republicans-one-elected-work-democrats/) is what you have to deal with from now on. ---
**Author:** ![elucidator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/8edcca/32.png) [@elucidator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elucidator)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2014, 4:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-interesting-national-exit-poll-results/703756/27 "2014-11-05T16:47:40Z")
Iceberg lettuce, $5 a head. Hey, its on _sale_! ---
**Author:** ![adaher](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/dec6dc/32.png) [@adaher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/adaher)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2014, 4:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-interesting-national-exit-poll-results/703756/28 "2014-11-05T16:48:43Z")
> [@Peremensoe](#): > > “Real border security” is a pipe dream, for purely practical reasons. Physical interdiction at the border will always cost far more than it can be ‘worth.’ Those who _really_ want to stop illegal immigration would be far better served to drop the fantasy and focus exclusively on internal enforcement. Of course that would be politically difficult, as it would require prosecuting American business owners for illegal hirings. Border security is actually stronger now than it’s been in awhile. That’s actually been the low hanging fruit and the Obama administration has done a pretty good job. Where they’ve shown a reluctance to act is in internal enforcement. People overstaying their visas, illegals pulled over for traffic offenses, illegals arrested for crimes, illegally working with fraudulent paperwork… If we deported all of the people in those categories, people where we already know where they are or have them in custody, internal enforcement would be more than adequate. Instead, we just let them go most of the time. Feds and state can also cooperate more. They cooperate on drug enforcement and all manner of federal enforcement, but the federal government specifically chooses to reject state cooperation in enforcing immigration laws, while demanding it in other areas. Cops pull over illegals all the time and can’t do anything. That should change. ---
**Author:** ![adaher](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/dec6dc/32.png) [@adaher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/adaher)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2014, 4:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-interesting-national-exit-poll-results/703756/29 "2014-11-05T16:49:45Z")
> [@DigitalC](#): > > They didn’t have the votes to stop a compromise before and they still did. Using your newly elected senate majority to pass absolutely any kind of immigration reform would be seen as a huge betrayal by the Republican base. [This](http://www.redstate.com/2014/11/05/dear-republicans-one-elected-work-democrats/) is what you have to deal with from now on. The Tea Party didn’t stop immigration reform, the Hastert Rule did. Plus as Fotheringay pointed out, the GOP expanded its House majority. They are less reliant on Tea Party votes than they were before. ---
**Author:** ![DigitalC](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ebca7d/32.png) [@DigitalC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DigitalC)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2014, 4:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-interesting-national-exit-poll-results/703756/30 "2014-11-05T16:52:47Z")
The Hastert rule is easily ignored when it is convenient for Republicans, if Boehner had not been afraid of a revolt from the tea party wing we would have reform already. ---
**Author:** ![elucidator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/8edcca/32.png) [@elucidator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elucidator)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2014, 4:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-interesting-national-exit-poll-results/703756/31 "2014-11-05T16:54:39Z")
> [@](#): > > …They are less reliant on Tea Party votes than they were before. If you cannot win without them, you are dependent upon them. What are you going to give them? You can play dodgeball with me, I don’t have your nuts in my pocket. They do. At the very least, they think they do, and they want to get paid. You are going to offer them sensible compromises? Did you forget that they are batshit? ---
**Author:** ![Bone](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bone/32/407_2.png) [@Bone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bone)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2014, 4:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-interesting-national-exit-poll-results/703756/32 "2014-11-05T16:55:20Z")
I’m continually annoyed by the treatment of individuals as voting blocks. It’s reality, but it’s distasteful. ---
**Author:** ![adaher](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/dec6dc/32.png) [@adaher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/adaher)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2014, 5:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-interesting-national-exit-poll-results/703756/33 "2014-11-05T17:06:31Z")
> [@DigitalC](#): > > The Hastert rule is easily ignored when it is convenient for Republicans, if Boehner had not been afraid of a revolt from the tea party wing we would have reform already. It wasn’t really about that. What he was afraid of was revolt from the entire GOP base. The Senate Republicans were well-meaning, but way too trusting, probably because McCain and Graham were sweet-talking them. I love those two for their mavericky ways, but sometimes they can be too trusting. The bill that passed allowed the President way too many outs on enforcement while giving him nearly everything he wanted on legalization and a path to citizenship. Senate Republicans completely missed this the first time around, and when the ensuing backlash from the base came, they furiously backpedalled. THe HOuse stuck to the Hastert rule for that bill because it would pass only because Senate Republicans had lost their minds briefly. And oh, BTW, had failed to consult with House Republicans adequately, just assuming that the big Senate majority for the bill would create momentum. If Boehner, McConnell, and Obama sit at a table and make a deal, it’s a totally different situation. Everyone will know what they are getting with eyes wide open. ---
**Author:** ![DigitalC](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ebca7d/32.png) [@DigitalC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DigitalC)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2014, 5:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-interesting-national-exit-poll-results/703756/34 "2014-11-05T17:26:00Z")
> [@adaher](#): > > It wasn’t really about that. What he was afraid of was revolt from the entire GOP base. The Senate Republicans were well-meaning, but way too trusting, probably because McCain and Graham were sweet-talking them. I love those two for their mavericky ways, but sometimes they can be too trusting. > > The bill that passed allowed the President way too many outs on enforcement while giving him nearly everything he wanted on legalization and a path to citizenship. Senate Republicans completely missed this the first time around, and when the ensuing backlash from the base came, they furiously backpedalled. THe HOuse stuck to the Hastert rule for that bill because it would pass only because Senate Republicans had lost their minds briefly. And oh, BTW, had failed to consult with House Republicans adequately, just assuming that the big Senate majority for the bill would create momentum. > > If Boehner, McConnell, and Obama sit at a table and make a deal, it’s a totally different situation. Everyone will know what they are getting with eyes wide open. The base rejected the compromise because it was immigration reform, not because it was “sneaky”. They will reject absolutely anything short of “rounding up the illegals and busing them across the border” and will take McConnell and Boehner sitting at a table with Obama as a complete betrayal of what they were elected to do. ---
**Author:** ![adaher](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/dec6dc/32.png) [@adaher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/adaher)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2014, 5:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-interesting-national-exit-poll-results/703756/35 "2014-11-05T17:43:28Z")
I think you misjudge the GOP base and polls of actual voters show that even Republicans are fine with amnesty and a path to citizenship. But enforcement has to be real. We can’t just do an amnesty every 30 years. Or if you are, at least be honest that it’s what you’re doing. Democrats and pro-business Republicans are trying to play the same game they played in 1986, where they promise better enforcement later for amnesty today. This time we do it the other way around. Republicans want enforcement and they will give everything else to Democrats that they want in exchange for it. Obama’s threat to issue an executive amnesty is actually brilliant in one respect: it forces Republicans to the table. If that’s his intent, I do think we will see a deal. ---
**Author:** ![Fotheringay-Phipps](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/d9b06d/32.png) [@Fotheringay-Phipps](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fotheringay-Phipps)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2014, 5:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-interesting-national-exit-poll-results/703756/36 "2014-11-05T17:45:07Z")
> [@adaher](#): > > THe government doesn’t “make” people rich or middle class, of course, but Republicans can tie themselves to policies which encourage prosperity and thus as Latinos naturally become more prosperous, they vote more and more Republican. From “Republicans tie themselves to policies which encourage” something, to that something actually coming to pass is a long long long way. > [@](#): > > The welfare issue was mostly addressed with the 1996 welfare reform bill. I disagree. ---
**Author:** ![adaher](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/dec6dc/32.png) [@adaher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/adaher)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2014, 5:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-interesting-national-exit-poll-results/703756/37 "2014-11-05T17:48:40Z")
The rolls are down and you can’t make it a lifelong “career”. I am concerned about how much the Democrats expanded eligibility for some programs, but I don’t think it’s done much to undo welfare reform. ---
**Author:** ![elucidator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/8edcca/32.png) [@elucidator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elucidator)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2014, 5:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-interesting-national-exit-poll-results/703756/38 "2014-11-05T17:48:52Z")
> [@adaher](#): > > I think you misjudge the GOP base and polls of actual voters show that even Republicans are fine with amnesty and a path to citizenship… Might need something a bit more substantial than your authoritative statement. You got, you bring? ---
**Author:** ![DigitalC](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ebca7d/32.png) [@DigitalC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DigitalC)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2014, 5:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-interesting-national-exit-poll-results/703756/39 "2014-11-05T17:50:25Z")
> [@adaher](#): > > It wasn’t really about that. What he was afraid of was revolt from the entire GOP base. The Senate Republicans were well-meaning, but way too trusting, probably because McCain and Graham were sweet-talking them. I love those two for their mavericky ways, but sometimes they can be too trusting. > > The bill that passed allowed the President way too many outs on enforcement while giving him nearly everything he wanted on legalization and a path to citizenship. Senate Republicans completely missed this the first time around, and when the ensuing backlash from the base came, they furiously backpedalled. THe HOuse stuck to the Hastert rule for that bill because it would pass only because Senate Republicans had lost their minds briefly. And oh, BTW, had failed to consult with House Republicans adequately, just assuming that the big Senate majority for the bill would create momentum. > > If Boehner, McConnell, and Obama sit at a table and make a deal, it’s a totally different situation. Everyone will know what they are getting with eyes wide open. The base rejected the compromise because it was immigration reform, not because it was “sneaky”. They will reject absolutely anything short of “rounding up the illegals and busing them across the border” and will take McConnell and Boehner sitting at a table with Obama as a complete betrayal of what they were elected to do. ---
**Author:** ![adaher](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/dec6dc/32.png) [@adaher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/adaher)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2014, 5:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-interesting-national-exit-poll-results/703756/40 "2014-11-05T17:53:38Z")
> [@](#): > > A recent analysis of Fox News and tea party voter polls found that while conservatives are opposed to the word “amnesty,” they recognize the need for changes in the current system that most consider broken. They support individual reforms, including citizenship, when they’re worded without the hot-button term. > > Earlier this month, the Wall Street Journal reported on a Fox News poll that gave respondents a set of options including deportation, guest worker status and earned citizenship without the “amnesty” moniker. Sixty-eight percent of total respondents and 60 percent of specifically Republican respondents selected options in favor of citizenship. > > “Do you favor or oppose allowing the 11 million illegal immigrants currently in the country to remain in the country and eventually — years down the road — qualify for U.S. citizenship, as long as they meet certain requirements like paying back taxes, learning English, and passing a background check?” the poll asked. > > Seventy-four percent of all respondents, including 67 percent of Republicans (or two out of three) chose undocumented immigrant retention with the above-named stipulations for eventual citizenship. > **[Polls: Republicans Don’t Want ‘Amnesty,’ But Don’t Mind Citizenship](https://dailycaller.com/2014/05/29/polls-republicans-dont-want-amnesty-but-dont-mind-citizenship/)** > > The fight over immigration reform in the House has zeroed in on Majority Leader Eric Cantor and the anti-amnesty attacks of his tea party primary challenger this week, but a recent analysis of polling among a broad range of conservatives indicates... It seems that it’s the loaded term “amnesty” that Republicans don’t like. Although it’s an accurate description if illegals are automaticlally forgiven any felonies they might have committed in order to stay here. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-interesting-national-exit-poll-results/703756.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-interesting-national-exit-poll-results/703756.md?page=3)