Tag Archives: politics

12/8/21

Partisanship — From Whence Cometh Partisanship In College?

I stumbled on an interesting study recently. It goes like this —

  1. Objective: survey self-identified Democrats/Republicans as well as men/women as to behavior they would or would not engage in based on their Presidential candidate preference.
  2. Sample size 850
  3. Date 18-22 November 2021
  4. Sample — college kids nationwide <<<  2/4-year community colleges, technical colleges, trade schools, public/private 4-year colleges
  5. Margin of error – +/- 3.4%

College students who would not “go out on a date with” someone who voted for the opposing Presidential candidate?

Democrats – 71%

Republicans – 31%

Women – 59%

Men – 33%

College students who would not “shop at or support a business of” someone who voted for the opposing Presidential candidate? Continue reading →

04/9/19

Politics — Policy v Personality

We are in the beginning throes of the long dance to elect a President of the United States in November of 2020. Happens every four years. It has become a brutal ritual, an endurance test in which the entire range of human emotion is at play.

Today, we do not champion a candidate without also decrying the opposition. No revelation there. That is as old as the Republic.

Inasmuch as elections are binary (except for Ross Perot and Howard Schultz) it is not unusual for a prevailing candidate to be the beneficiary of a vote for the candidate, but, alternatively, also a vote against the opponent.

“I am voting for Madame X.”

“I am voting against Madame X’s opponent.”

Both of these votes show up in the final tally in the same manner. The successful candidate doesn’t really care.

We make these decisions — for or against — based on policy and personality.

Continue reading →