Voter ID and Seceding

Polls are interesting things.  I don't put much weight in them because a good pollster can get the results they want based on how they ask a question.  Asking if people support a woman's right to choose and showing a picture of the young attractive women protesters you see in the paper for instance would give far different results then if you ask if people support the right to murder unborn children and show a picture of a dead unborn.  You would basically be asking the same question but it's all in how it's asked.

All that said, once in a while when looking at polls you do see interesting things in their results.

Two polls taken recently on the patch website are good examples of that.

Poll 1 asks "Should Voter ID be repealed?"

Poll 2 asks "Should NH Consider Seceding from the Union?"

When looking at the results first consider the rule of 3s.  With nearly everything political you will always find that about 1/3 will always be for it and 1/3 will always be against it.  It's the 1/3 in the middle the sways things one way or the other.

When asked if voter ID should be repealed 32% said yes and 67% said no.

When asked if NH should consider seceding, 42% said yes and 57% said no.

So the way I look at these results you have the fairly split 1/3 for and 1/3 against but in the case of seceding from the Union a portion of that middle 1/3 is starting to believe it's a good idea.

What is that telling you about what direction people are thinking this country is headed in?

As I've said in the past when Republicans were in power, the party in power (in this case Democrats) would be wise listening to people and what they want.  People want fair elections and they want less government.  Unfortunately I think you're going to see Democrats push for ways that will make it easier for people to vote illegally and push for far more spending and more government over the next 2 years.

10 Random Facebook Polls

I enjoy taking and watching the polls on facebook.  They tend to be made up of a decent cross section of America and give a good insight to what most normal people think.

Here are 10 polls I found this week:

1) Do you approve of Barack Obama's health care legislation?

779 votes

26% yes
71% no
3% maybe

2) Should prostitution be legalized and taxed?

770 votes

65% yes
35% no

3) Should marijuana be legalized?

12435 votes

24% yes
22% no
16% only for medical purposes
38% yes, but with an age requirement like alcohol

4) Did Former President George W. Bush Do A Good Job, Or At Least Try.

3824 votes

47% yes
53% no

5) Do you feel safer from terrorists now that Obama is President?

2904 votes

17% yes
83% no

6) Has Obama been a good president in his first few months of office?

529 votes

34% yes
66% no

7) Should Bush Administration officials be investigated and prosecuted for violating the Geneva Conventions by torturing war detainees?

785 votes

49% yes
51% no

8) Is the U.S. finally winning the war in Iraq?

1271 votes

42% yes
35% no
23% undecided

9) Has House Speaker Nancy done a good job

525 votes

6% yes
94% no

10) Should Abortion Be illegalized

936 votes

42% yes
58% no

Each of these poll questions can be a solid debate point in and of itself.  The one thing they say to me is that Democrats are making the same mistakes Republicans did under Bush.  They are incorrectly assuming that the public voted for them.  You can see above that over all people are not all that positive on the Bush administration but they are even more critical of Obama.  The overwhelming majority object to his health care plan and even fewer feel he is doing enough to keep this country safe.

Based on the writing on the wall its going to be an interesting next few years.

A Couple Interesting Polls

I was playing around on facebook and stumbled upon a couple polls that facebook uses have created.  Now these are unsolicited polls who collect answers from everyone, not just registered voters so take them for what they are worth.  I do feel they capture a good cross section of real Americans though so I would guess them to be fairly accurate to the feelings of the nation as a whole. 

Also keep in mind that the numbers of people polled range from question to question.  Some have thousands of responses while others have just a few hundred.

Note: The links may not work as I believe you must be registered with facebook to view them.

First question:

Should Marijuana be legal for purchase?
Yes, it is no worse then Beer, or Cigarettes - 77%
No, I think its a gateway drug - 23%

Do you think abortion should be legalized?
yes - 26%
no - 74%

Interesting comment to this last poll question:
I voted "no". But I have bad news for you, it already is legal. I wonder if it would come up again as a vote, wish it would!

Do you approve or disapprove of the job President Obama is doing in office?
Approve - 42%
Undecided - 6%Disapprove - 52%
Note: 252,093 votes on this last poll

Do you approve of the job Congress is doing?
Approve - 11%
Disapprove - 89%

Do you think Obama is leading America down the road to Socialism?
Yes - 68%
No - 32%

Do you beleive that the federal government should provide universal healthcare to its citizens?
Yes - 38%
No - 63%

Coke or Pepsi?
Coke - 64%
Pepsi - 36%

Should gay marriage be legal?
Yes - 61%
No - 39%

Do you believe in God?
Yes - 74%
No - 19%
Not Sure - 7%

Which Recent US President has done more damage than good?
Ronald Reagan - 3%
George H. W. Bush - 3%
Bill Clinton - 7%
George W. Bush - 39%
Barack Obama - 47%

Should Cigarettes be illegal?
Yes!!! They are gross - 30%
No Way!!! Never - 70%

As I said, take these answers for what they are worth but at the very least I find them interesting for discussion.

Newest UNH Poll Has Shocking Results

UNH's polling center released a new poll this week with some rather interesting results and they show that in nearly every issue currently being discussed in Concord, the majority of those polled agree more with the Republican party then Democrats.

First question was regarding the Death Penalty, would you be more or less willing to support a candidate who supports it.  56% of those polled said they would be more likely to support a candidate who supports the death penalty.  Only 26% said they would be less likely.  What's most shocking here is that 35% of Democrats polls said they would be more likely to support a candidate who support the death penalty.

Then come parental notification for abortions, this time 58% said they would be more likely to support a candidate who supports it and again only 26% would be less likely.  This flies right in the face of the Democrats who have taken this right away from parents.  And again 36% of Democrats polled even said they would be more likely to support a candidate who protects parental rights.

Regarding transgender discrimination, only 38% polled said they would be more likely to support a candidate who supports this bill, 57% of those being Democrats.  What was a little troubling with this question though is that with all the news and discussion about this issue 39% admitted to not knowing enough about it to make up their minds.

The issue I found the most troubling and unexpected was the support for mandatory seatbelts.  58% of those polled admitted they would be more willing to support a candidate who supported this.  This 58% openly admitting they would like to see others forced against their will to do something they think is a good idea.  Troubling.

The last issue polled about was the issue of medical marijuana which once again proves to be a divided issue across party lines.  Overall though more people support it then not, with 45% more likely to vote for a candidate who supports it and only 24% less.  Republicans are nearly evenly split with 35% supporting and 37% opposed.  Over all more democrats do favor legalizing it for medical reasons (58%) which leads me to question why with Democrat control of all branches of NH government why they haven't pushed this issue and instead are favoring more controversial issues such as transgender rights.