Via Fired Up from Think Progress:
Public Policy Polling [pdf] released a poll today with a sample of 909 voters taken from August 14th to 17th. The margin of error is +/-3.3%.
Q3 Do you think the government should stay out of Medicare?
Yes 39%
No 46%
Not Sure 15%
[emphasis added]
“…One poll question indicative of how difficult it is to gain public understanding on a complicated issue asked if respondents thought the government should ‘stay out of Medicare,’ something inherently impossible. 39% said yes…”
Medicare is a government-run single-payer program.
A satirical sign held by a pro health care reform activist after Senator Claire McCaskill’s town hall in Hillsboro, Missouri on August 11th. Evidently the satire is lost on 39% of the voters in this country.
Q5 Do you think Barack Obama was born in the United States?
Yes 62%
No 25%
Not Sure 14%
It all adds up.
Stupidity may be inherited, but ignorance is a personal choice.
Dear Ms Hotflash, I know this is the wrong place to add this comment but do not see how to email you.
I believe that the progressive community ought to be paying attention to the fact that Missouri lost about $133,000,000 in Federal unemployment money because the bill we passed this last session was did not comply with Federal law.
This is a serious matter not only to the families of the unemployed people who need the money but to the entire state economy; 133 million not being chicken feed.
There is a remedy. The Governor could call us into special session to rectify the problem. I believe that he should and believe that we can get the job done right.
In any event, it is a subject that is right on topic for your wonderful blog.
Chris Kelly
It’s always useful when you can attach a number to the utterly hopeless slice of the electorate.
Illinois ran such an experiment in 2004 when, in a Senate race against Barack Obama, Alan Keyes pulled in 27% of the vote in the general election.
Now progressive campaigns in Illinois know that, at best, only 3/4 of the electorate is even remotely rational and that one out of every four voters is nuttier than a squirrel’s breakfast.
Sure we wish it were different, but you have to know the facts before you can face the facts.
— MrJM