this post was submitted on 26 Sep 2023
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If the polling is this wacky, why bother publishing it at all?

Over the weekend, ABC and the Washington Post published the results of a poll that made both operations look like its results were the product of a month-long exercise with a Magic 8-Ball. The way you know it was an embarrassment is the Post story about the poll began by telling us all we should probably ignore it completely.

The Post-ABC poll shows Biden trailing Trump by 10 percentage points at this early stage in the election cycle, although the sizable margin of Trump’s lead in this survey is significantly at odds with other public polls that show the general election contest a virtual dead heat. The difference between this poll and others, as well as the unusual makeup of Trump’s and Biden’s coalitions in this survey, suggest it is probably an outlier.

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[–] FlyingSquid@lemmy.world 177 points 2 years ago (10 children)

It was done entirely by phone. What person under, say, 60 answers an unknown call on their phone at this point? And if they left a voicemail to call them back, who would trust it? Basically, they're getting extremely gullible people (i.e. mostly Trump voters) to respond to the poll.

I think the only way you can do successful polling at this point is focus groups with carefully selected demographics, and I would even be dubious there.

[–] MetalJewSolid@sopuli.xyz 30 points 2 years ago (2 children)

I participated in a few polls in 2020 and…yeah. I would pick them up because I was waiting for important calls. Why tf else would I pick up. I still get these calls sometimes, usually while waiting for a call back for a job.

[–] FlyingSquid@lemmy.world 31 points 2 years ago (1 children)

Even if I did pick up the phone, which I doubt I would, I would think it was a scam.

[–] homesweethomeMrL@lemmy.world 9 points 2 years ago

You guys are answering the unknown caller? Wow.

Why? Like, don’t.

[–] ShunkW@lemmy.world 11 points 2 years ago (2 children)

I was waiting to hear back about a job then and answered a poll call about gambling. I very, very rarely gamble. And when I do it's like $50 on blackjack or something cuz my friends want to go to the casino here. That was a fun call cuz my answers were like "never", *rarely", "no". Lol

Dunno why I felt the need to share. I'm still drunk from my friends birthday party last night I think lol

[–] squiblet@kbin.social 7 points 2 years ago (1 children)

What if it was the employer calling to see if you gamble?

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[–] FuglyDuck@lemmy.world 17 points 2 years ago

It should also be said that polls are only responded to by people who a) have the time, and b) have something to say.

B alone is enough to make the respondents select for far more extreme than the average person. A also selects for… people who’ve got nothing else going on.

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[–] RockyC@lemm.ee 95 points 2 years ago (3 children)

Shrooms have nothing to do with mass delusions. In fact, they may help cure them.

[–] homesweethomeMrL@lemmy.world 9 points 2 years ago

“You’d have to be out of your goddamned mind” got poo-poohed by the editorbot.

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[–] aircooledJenkins@lemmy.world 71 points 2 years ago

Underestimating this discarded foreskin is what got us here in the first place.

Don't get complacent.

[–] PostmodernPythia@lemmy.world 63 points 2 years ago (1 children)

This is deeply insulting to mushroom users, particularly given that people tend to be more empathetic because of those experiences, not less.

[–] khepri@lemmy.world 22 points 2 years ago (1 children)

Shrooms specifically were a weird choice for the headline for sure. But it's just another variation on "drugs make you stupid and only teetotallers have an accurate perception of the world". It's really no less offensive than if they'd gone with "only a woman would believe..." or "you'd have to be a middle-school dropout to believe...". Like why? Why target some random group and call them out as idiots incapable of seeing what's right in front of their faces, when it has absolutely 0 to do with the content of the article? You'd have to be on PCP to believe this is a good way to write a headline :D

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[–] assassin_aragorn@lemmy.world 56 points 2 years ago (10 children)

Don't get complacent. That's the most important takeaway. We need to not only beat Republicans, but to give them massive losses. We want them to lose by double digit margins so they realize fascism has no place in the US, and MAGA can ma-get the fuck out of here.

I'm really curious to read more about the poll itself later, just with how unusual this is. What in the methodology screwed it up? Or do they just have an incredibly wide confidence interval?

It's also worth remembering I think, polling was very wrong in the midterms. They suggested at best that Republicans would win by a little bit, and at worst the "red tidal wave". And we know now it was a trickle, that they can't even claim as a total victory. Dems gained a Senate seat, and a lot of important state government positions in swing states.

There's a few causes for this mismatch I believe:

  • There's a lot of shitty Republicans pollsters these days that provide a lot of low quality data.

  • Analysts overcorrected their models after 2020 and it undercounts Democrats.

  • The huge backlash for overturning Roe isn't being captured in polls for some reason. Abortion continues to be a huge issue that's benefitting Democrats. The economy and inflation were thought to be the largest drivers for the midterms, but if they were, people saw Democrats as the solution for that.

[–] Wrench@lemmy.world 11 points 2 years ago* (last edited 2 years ago) (1 children)

We want them to lose by double digit margins so they realize fascism has no place in the US, and MAGA can ma-get the fuck out of here.

These fascists aren't going to suddenly become sane democratic loving colleagues if MAGA falls out of fashion. Even if they put their masks back on, they're still going to be fascists.

The republican party needs to die. Scorched earth, razed to the ground. Democrats need a super majority, and then subsequently split into 2 or more parties to become the new 2 party system, or preferably ranked choice and have to work as a coalition.

Edit - and there needs to be a public education attempt at making the cultists masses understand the dangers of fascism, and that it's wrong. We currently have a culture war trying to rebrand the civil war and nazism as misunderstood. The parallels on nazi Germany are not hyperbole. We need public accountability and public education to aggressive stave this off before its too late.

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[–] CileTheSane@lemmy.ca 9 points 2 years ago (1 children)

There’s a few causes for this mismatch I believe:

Also keep in mind the sampling bias of only including people willing to take part in polls.

Unknown number? Stranger knocking at my door? I'm not answering.

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[–] jocanib@lemmy.world 5 points 2 years ago* (last edited 2 years ago) (1 children)

Don’t get complacent.

This was a good start. But then you finished by giving loads of reasons to remain complacent.

Polticial polls have to adjust for turnout and that is extremely difficult to get right. But it is a nailed on guarantee that Trump fans will turn out. Dems should be worried that the polls (in general, not just this one) are very close. Biden's presidency has been somewhat better than expected from a progressive perspective but is still too beholden to the kind of Dem that lost it in 2016 by appealing solely to rich people instead of the tens of millions of voters with no one to vote for. They will struggle to enthuse the people they need to enthuse and that is showing up in the polls.

Don't get complacent. Don't push narratives that encourage complacency.

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[–] baked_tea@lemmy.world 53 points 2 years ago (3 children)

Who the hell thought this headline idea is good wtf

[–] squiblet@kbin.social 33 points 2 years ago (1 children)

It's kind of slanderous to mushrooms

[–] teft@startrek.website 9 points 2 years ago (1 children)

Libelous. Slander is spoken. Libel is written.

[–] squiblet@kbin.social 6 points 2 years ago

Yes, that's true. I read it aloud to myself though.

People that haven't ever actually done any drugs before.

[–] Deceptichum@kbin.social 6 points 2 years ago* (last edited 2 years ago) (1 children)

It seems to be part of a series called "Politics With Charles P. Pierce", which from the looks of it attempts to take a relaxed, informal take on an op-ed.

So the title seems fine for the context I think.

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[–] tsonfeir@lemm.ee 47 points 2 years ago* (last edited 2 years ago) (1 children)

I just want to make it clear to everyone that being on mushrooms would not in any way make you think that. In fact, it’s pretty stupid to think that any drugs would do that. Anyone who believes in Trump probably needs some drugs

[–] MagicShel@programming.dev 11 points 2 years ago (1 children)

All the drugs. They need them all.

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[–] phoneymouse@lemmy.world 46 points 2 years ago (1 children)

Shrooms make you more perceptive, not less.

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[–] MiikCheque@lemmy.world 24 points 2 years ago (5 children)

why mushrooms and not opioids? or crack?

Mushrooms don't deserve this. They've proven beneficial and healthy in defeating depression, properly coping with trauma, cognitive decline, etc. This negatively associates mushrooms with idiocy and it's irresponsible and unwarranted.

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[–] Furbag@lemmy.world 22 points 2 years ago

Trump might not be 20 points ahead of Biden, but you'd better fucking turn out at the poll like he is.

[–] MedicPigBabySaver@lemmy.world 17 points 2 years ago

Fuck Trump. He belongs in prison.

Don't insult mushrooms like this, lmao, what did they ever do to hurt you?

[–] Motavader@lemmy.world 14 points 2 years ago (1 children)

I don't disagree, but those young voters still have to show up to vote or the result is the same. They didn't show up in the last election and my state anded up with a Republican supermajority.

[–] n2burns@lemmy.ca 12 points 2 years ago* (last edited 2 years ago) (5 children)
[–] Motavader@lemmy.world 13 points 2 years ago

That's encouraging, and also discouraging since it wasn't enough

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[–] Endorkend@kbin.social 14 points 2 years ago* (last edited 2 years ago)

"You'd have to be on mushrooms to think Trump will become president" > an annoying lot of people pre-2016.

If the young people that actually go out to vote happen to be the ones that like Trump, Tate, Musk and the like, then yeah, he can pull 100% ahead of Biden.

[–] quadropiss@lemmy.world 12 points 2 years ago (1 children)

Love the casual stigma around drugs that aren't alcohol or tobacco

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[–] CileTheSane@lemmy.ca 10 points 2 years ago (1 children)

that show the general election contest a virtual dead heat.

Jfc the US is such a dumpster fire.

[–] sturmblast@lemmy.world 7 points 2 years ago

you are not wrong

[–] snausagesinablanket@lemmy.world 10 points 2 years ago

Don't knock mushrooms. They actually help you clear your mind and make good decisions.

[–] Frog-Brawler@kbin.social 9 points 2 years ago

I have absolutely no intention of voting for Trump, but if you ask me on a poll about it, I might tell the pollster that I plan to vote for Trump. I don’t want people getting too comfortable with an assumed outcome ever again.

[–] Powerpoint@lemmy.ca 9 points 2 years ago* (last edited 2 years ago)

They publish it to try and suppress voters to make them feel like there's no chance. Then when they lose they can claim election fraud because the bogus polling had them winning. It's a common tactic Conservatives use now to suppress votes. People need to show up no matter what the polling or news is saying.

[–] OldWoodFrame@lemm.ee 8 points 2 years ago

Good for them for publishing an outlier poll while framing it appropriately. It happens, and releasing anyway shows integrity.

[–] LongPigFlavor@lemmy.world 8 points 2 years ago

Mid 20s gen z here. I'll be sure to vote for Biden. All in all he's pretty alright in my book. Sure things could be better, but that's going to take a bit more time, hopefully his successors will be better.

[–] tym@lemmy.world 7 points 2 years ago

Pffft.. I've been microdosing for years and I would never believe that shit!

[–] hr_@lemmy.world 6 points 2 years ago (2 children)

Here's a writeup by FiveThirtyEight that happens to now be a part of ABC but didn't participate in this pill: How outlier polls happen — and what to do with them

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[–] arin@lemmy.world 6 points 2 years ago (1 children)

Can we have politicians that are at least 20 years younger than moscow mitch?

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