Elections, Peoria Journal Star

Copley’s Obama poll question ambiguous

2 Comments

Senator Barack ObamaThe Journal Star’s headline says, “Voters signal Obama support,” but that’s debatable. Dana Heupel of Copley News Service writes:

In the statewide survey, taken Monday and Tuesday, 59 percent of those polled said they would cast their ballots for the Illinois senator if he were the Democratic candidate for president. Twenty-eight percent said they would not, and 13 percent were unsure.

Yet, right above the article in the paper edition of the PJS, it reprints the actual poll question:

QUESTION: If Obama was the Democratic Party candidate for president in 2008, would you consider voting for him or not?

To “consider” means, “think carefully about (something), typically before making a decision” (New Oxford American Dictionary, emphasis mine). In other words, to say you would “consider voting for” someone is not the same as saying you would actually cast your ballot for that person.

If you were to ask me if I would consider voting for Obama, I would say “yes,” because it depends on who else is running, what his platform is at the time, who his running mate would be, etc. I wouldn’t just dismiss him out of hand. But if you were to ask me whether or not I would likely cast my ballot for him, I would say “no.”

That’s why these polls are so tricky. It’s all in how you ask the question and interpret the results. The headline could just as easily have read “Poll: 28% wouldn’t even consider voting for Obama for President.”

2 thoughts on “Copley’s Obama poll question ambiguous”

  1. the story didn’t match the language of the poll question, just typical of the Propaganda Star

  2. Also, IL is strongly Dem so the way the question is worded the IL democratic voters wouldn’t have a choice in Dem candidates. “…if he WAS the Democratic candidate for president…” Well if I vote Dem every time, which most of IL does, then you have presented me with only one choice. So, like him or not, many of those polled would vote for him because they were not presented a choice.

    It would be different if you asked, “Do you think Obama should represent the democratic party as the presidential candidate in the next election?”

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