I realize those of us who can be called "political junkies" are in small numbers...yet reading the above linked Toledo Blade article about the Zogby Poll they commissioned for the Lucas County Commissioner race was very disheartening.
When respondents who said they planned to vote for Mr. Copeland were asked why, 11 percent offered that they liked his uncle. Another 20 percent gave answers that suggested they could be confusing the two men, such as "he used to be a good county commissioner."
This doesn't bother Phil Copeland, as quoted in the Blade:
"If my uncle's name is helping me, I'm thanking him right now," Mr. Copeland said. "I'll take it any day. He had a good name, and I'm trying to keep it up. … If they think I'm Bill Copeland, that's fine with me."
That means that out of the 25% translated to approximately 100 people out of 402, that selected Phil Copeland as their candidate of choice, almost 40 of them liked Bill Copeland who retired in 2002 and died in 2004. Then the third that stated they liked Phil Copeland's stance on issues...What issues?
Then the choice of phrasing for this article...."Phil Copeland leads a wide-open Democratic primary" According to the article: Each set of results has an error margin of plus or minus five percentage points. Ben Konop at 20% is only 5% under Phil Copeland, Tim Wagener received 12.5%. Forty percent are still undecided.
Sixty-five percent had never heard of Pam Haynam, sixty percent had never heard of Ben Konop and fifty percent had never heard of Tim Wagener...So with that and the numbers who think that Phil Copeland is Bill Copeland...Where did they get these people? (Yes, I know look at the top vote getters for Toledo City Council.)
The idea that these people who claim to be "likely to cast ballots" scares the hell out of me. If they don't read the newspapers, don't watch tv news, don't listen to the radio and they obviously never use the internet to read news; how can they even pretend to be informed voters? How can they even proclaim to know if the county is on the right track or the wrong track if they aren't even aware of who's running or realize that Phil Copeland is not Bill Copeland?
I realize I'm preaching to the choir, but if you cannot be bothered to even learn the most basic information then you are making a total joke out of the whole process of voting and this ignorance hurts us all.
I also can't help wondering if this poll is related to yesterday's story about the negative phone polling. No one else has yet come forward and stated they were doing polling.
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7 comments:
(Semi-coherent rant mode ON):
The electorate DESERVE the politicians that they elect.
Sometimes I think that there should be a test for voters, to determine if they are knowledgeable enough about each election to be permitted to vote.
Now, I’m not advocating excluding anyone but the stupid/ignorant.
You should have to work at voting; maybe then, you'd appreciate the power that you have.
(And, screw with those that prefer their voters be stupid/ignorant.)
My mom was one of those called. Despite asking to speak to the Republican in the house (they were looking for both Rep. & Dem. voters), they asked her about Phil Copeland.
She said the question was along the lines of 'with the recent announcement regarding the investigation at his union, are you more or less likely (or no impact) to vote for Phil Copeland?
Her response was that the union investigation would have no impact on her decision to vote for or against Phil because, as a Republican, she wouldn't be voting in the Democratic primary. I wonder how that was reflected in the numbers.
Additionally, the Blade wrote: "Results were weighted to reflect county demographics." I do not know if this is a common occurrence, but I think this is the first time I've seen this "weighting" in a poll....
That being said, your concerns about the voters are very valid and shared by many.
What a disgrace to think Phil Copeland would even be considered. All we need is another union man as a county commisioner. When will the silent majority stand up and make a statement?
I almost used that quote Hooda, stating that I didn't feel those of us who paid attention deserved to have to live with the consequences of those who can't even tell the difference between a live candidate and one who not only retired but passed away two years ago.
Maggie, that is a good point and I wonder how your mother's response did play into that.
It really bothers me that we in history have had people die so we had the ability to vote, as a woman many protested so I would have that ability to vote. In other countries right at this moment, people are willing to sacrifice so much to be able to vote and yet here in the Country that is supposed to be the government others should want to achieve, we have people that don't even take the basic minimum amount of time to even find out who is running for office.
This is why I am against any kind of a reward or attempt to make voting mandatory, we already have people that don't take it seriously enough to even try to be informed.
I too read this article with great dispair. I share Lisa's concerns about an educated voting populas. At the very least, voters should be able to distinquish a living canadidate from a dead one.
Phil Copelands remarks that it was OK with him if he was confused with his Uncle was un-nerving. Maybe Phil (in an attempt to educate voters) should be forced to make a PSA which could read something like this:
I knew Bill Copeland, he was my Uncle. I am here to tell you...Phil, your NO Bill Copeland
For some reason, that information does not surprise me. More often than not, it appears that the vast majority American electorate is not very well informed. Name recognition still seems to be the deciding factor with most of the voters. Additionally, it appears that many voters do not decide for whom they are voting until they actually enter the voting booth.
I have written several stories on my blog about the rampant ignorance of the voting masses in this neck of the woods.
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