Okay, This Illustrates the Silliness of Polls

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Under the short but entirely appropriate heading of “WTF?” Wonkette observes that the Lifetime Network actually commissioned a poll to ask women voters… well, I’ll let Wonkette explain.

“NEW YORK (Reuters) – Women would rather carpool or go on vacation with Democratic White House hopeful Barack Obama than with his Republican rival John McCain, a new poll of U.S. women voters showed on Tuesday.” What the fuck does this even mean? “Carpooling” and “vacationing” are two very distinct acts. So they have asked women across the country, basically, which candidate they would rather schlep to pre-school or, conversely, go to the Jersey Shore with.

And that’s relevant how? Lifetime commissioned the poll as part of its “Every Woman Counts” campaign, which seeks to increase engagement in politics by women. Is it making the incredibly patronizing suggestion that women’s voting behavior is informed by which candidate they would rather take on a beach getaway? As opposed to, say, the candidates’ energy platforms?

We’ll know even more after the Golf Channel’s poll on which candidate male voters want to snap towels with at the Elks Lodge. Thanks, Lifetime!

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DONALD TRUMP & DEMOCRACY

Mother Jones was founded to do journalism differently. We stand for justice and democracy. We reject false equivalence. We go after stories others don’t. We’re a nonprofit newsroom, because the kind of truth-telling investigations we do doesn’t happen under corporate ownership.

And we need your support like never before, to fight back against the existential threats American democracy faces. Fundraising for nonprofit media is always a challenge, and we need all hands on deck right now. We have no cushion; we leave it all on the field.

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