A GALLOP POLL APPARENTLY proves that "Jewish voters keen on Clinton, Sanders, widely dislike Trump, Cruz"
According to the pollsters, Gallup said in a March 24 article that an aggregation of Jewish respondents to its daily polling showed Jewish voters favor Sanders, an Independent Vermont senator, at 61 percent favorable, and Clinton, a former secretary of state, at 60 percent.
ALL VERY INTERESTING, but I failed to read 1. How many people were polled
2. Where the people who were (allegedly polled resided
3. The age of the people pulled
And since the poll is about how Jews (allegedly) think, what is the level of religious observance of those polled?
- Lunch at a Chinese restaurant on Yom Kippur?
An hour or two in synagogue on Yom Kippur?
At shul on holidays
Trick or Treat on Oct. 31 and a "Chanukah bush" for Dec. 25?
Kosher for Passover but not other times?
Shomer Shabat
Kashrut inside the home and outside, too?
Aware of the difference between "glat" and "Bet Yosef"? (Know that "glat" applies only to meat; not fish and dairy products.)
I live in South Florida and I consider myself an "observant" Jew.
The people I know are "pro-Trump" and have no use for Mrs. Clinton or Sen. Sanders.
I'm sure there ARE Jews in South Florida who will support ANY Democratic candidate against a Republican candidate - mostly these folks are expats from the Democratic strongholds of colder climes. I know of at least one Jew in Washington State who surprised me by his exceedingly liberal position, but maybe Seattle is "outside the boundaries" of the mostly conservative Intermountain West. (I lived in Nevada and Wyoming so I have some first hand experience in that part of the country; I also lived in northern - north of Sacramento - California, and area that also is mostly conservative.)
Besides knowing the demographics of the Jews who Gallop claims were polled, I'd also like to know exactly how the questions were presented: how were the phrased and how were they put before those polled?
When I was a reporter for the Harrisburg Patriot-News in the early 1970s, I had an interesting job - once a week I went into downtown Harrisburg to buttonhole passersby and ask them a question deemed relevant by my boss.
Rain or shine, hot or cold, a photographer and I suffered the elements to get answers from six people who would agree to be named and have their photo taken. Never did we get to call it a day after the first six people were stopped.
MY POINT in all the above is that, based on personal experience, I know a question can be phrased to elicit the answer the pollster desires. I also know it's not necessarily WHAT the pollster says, but HOW it is said.
When I see ANY poll that claims anything, even if I agree with the poll's results, I am suspicious.
When I see poll results that fly in the face of my experience, e.g., 90% of the observant Jews I know in South Florida are NOT for Mrs. Clinton or Sen. Sanders, then red flags are raised, bells go off, and any other cliché that comes to mind makes an appearance.
If you ask non-observant Jews in New York - where Mrs. Clinton bought her senate seat - if they support Mrs. Clinton, I'm confident there would be overwhelming numbers in her favor.
But come south and ask about Mrs. Clinton and the answers tend to be questions:
- What about the emails?
What about Benghazi?
The question for Sen. Sanders is "How are you going to pay for all the socialist ideas such as free college for all?" (Georgia's lottery pays college tuition for top students, but a high school drop out with a single digit IQ won't make the cut.)
THE NEXT TIME you hear or read that "a recent poll proves that …" ask yourself the critical questions:
- Who was polled?
When was the poll taken (what happened just before the pollsters hit the street or phones)
Where did those polled live?
How old were those polled - how much life experience did they have?
How were the questions phrased?
How were the polls taken - in person, on the phone, via mail or email?
Who paid for the polls - they are expensive to create and implement?
Would anyone in your circle respond the way the pollsters claim their responders answered?
Tell me the results you want and I can design a questionnaire that will give you those results. Guaranteed. Every time.
