Bamboozled!

Don’t get bamboozled by public opinion polls! For those readers who are not familiar with the term bamboozled, it means don’t be deceived, don’t let someone or something get the better of you by trickery or flattery. Currently there are 17 declared Republicans and 5 declared Democrats who are running for the 2016 presidential election, yet out of the 22 it appears that the news media predominantly covers Donald Trump. Why is this, is it his proclaimed poll numbers? Incidentally, should Americans take public opinion polls for face value? In theory, when done correctly polls consist of strict rules about sample size, random selection of participants and margins of error. However, even the best public opinion poll is only a snapshot of public opinion at a particular moment in time, not an eternal truth [source: Zukin]. Nonetheless the results of polls are reported by the news media quite often; more specifically public opinion polls that attempt to predict the front-runner or the possible outcome of an election; polls they assert represent the American people. How is that even plausible, there are 50 states and 3,007 counties with populations one cannot even guess? Consequently, it wouldn’t be farfetched to question whether public opinion polls adequately “represent” everyone. For example, if you ask a fraction of Latino’s, African Americans, the middle class and underserved low-income communities, the majority would say the results of current GOP public opinion election polls don’t represent them; with that being said, don’t just succumb to the appearance of defeat or get discouraged if it “looks like” your opinion is outnumbered- ultimately an election is only final when the last pallet is counted!

Don’t get bamboozled by repetitive jargon that has no merit! Remember repetition “can” have an underlying motive, “it is the prime conduit for shaping belief, negative or positive; studies have shown that repetition leads to familiarity, which is the key to fostering trust. Moreover, frequent exposure to an opinion is often a valid cue that many people share the same belief.” (Source: Realclearscience.com). For instance, the news media reports on Hillary Clinton’s State Department emails nearly everyday- relentlessly and they are “coincidently” repeatedly referred to as the Clinton “Scandal “ or the Clinton “Controversy”. Words associated with- disgrace, dishonor, confusion and dispute. To seal the deal, media outlets also constantly recount the “public opinion poll” results associated with the email jargon. For example, statements like “unfavorable views of Hillary Clinton are on the rise and the perception of her as honest and trustworthy”. This is mind boggling simply because Ms. Clinton has stated on numerous occasions that she did not send classified information from her private email account and she has not been found guilty of violating any law(s) which back her assertions…..yet the repeated use of negative, accusatory words embolden people to believe the hype regardless of the facts.

Lastly, the most important thing in communication is hearing what isn’t being said. The art of reading between the lines is a life long quest of the wise.”― Shannon L. Alder. Subsequently, don’t get bamboozled by open-ended promises with no solutions or polices to back them up! For example, catering to just your base, class, race or gender is not a solution or policy, a promise to solve world problems and be the best leader Americans have ever seen (if elected) is not a solution or a policy, an unrealistic resolution is not the answer to a solution or policy, tearing other presidential candidates down to lift oneself up is not a solution or policy, avoiding “real” issues or providing opened-ended gibberish is not a solution or policy, statements like “taking America back” is not not a solution or policy. In fact it’s rather insulting to many Americans who lived through or have ancestry who lived through slavery, the great depression, segregation, World War I and II ect. I can go on and on, but my point is, do your do diligence on all 22 candidates, use all the resources available to you in order to make an informative decision on Election Day; don’t just depend on social media or one specific news outlet to shape your opinion or determine the outcome of the election for you. To help jumpstart your research click on any of the following links: