Existential Threats to the good ol' US of A !!!

[olds442jetaway]

    Notes...I agree with you. Education IMO plays only a minor part. Most people are so wrapped up in their own lives and problems, they only listen to the headlines if that by the crooked media.

[DaBurglar]

[QUOTE=Carcounter]

Let's assume for the moment that a low info voter is someone with a high school diploma or less. I know this not entirely accurate, but probably pretty true.

CC, interesting question, I was unaware of those numbers, assumed the election is already decided.

but, I think your assumption about low information criteria is flawed. I/m/o, those who qualify as low information voters is likely 90% or more of the population. young/old, m/f, black/white, college grad or not, very few actually pay any attention to what is going on, outside of a sound bite or a twitter post.[/QUOTE]It is not at all clear what your point here is, or what you appear to be advocating or arguing for (or arguing against, I dunno).....So Am proceeding with total neutrality and nonchalance.....In today's world of the 24 hour news cycle and instant gratification, Political Candidates pretty much are able to "Weather" just about any scandal or mistake that does not involve an outright Violent crime or Felony (notice I said "OUTRIGHT VIOLENT"), meaning unless they flat out KILL someone or are captured on video committing a crime, they rarely suffer immediate and irrevocable consequences.......now, of course, issues and mistakes can FOLLOW a candidate indefinitely, depending on WHAT ELSE is going on in the world and WHAT ELSE the fickle short term attention span of the MEDIA can find to distract itself with.......this explains WHY both current candidates are even still AROUND and why BOTH are not in jail (or at least on trial)......That said, your statement above pretty much confirms what I myself believe, that the vast VAST majority of AMERICANS (and people in the world in general), more than 90%, are totally UN-INFORMED and totally UNQUALIFIED to really evaluate and/or choose a competent, realistic and fair solution to most issues facing the public (and the WORLD) today.....Why?   The reasons why this is so are as vast and disparate as there are people......but one common denominator is something you touched upon, which is the actual Source(s) of news and information in the world today.......the ironic thing is, with the internet and the widespread availability of books and libraries, NEVER in HUMAN history has there been as much knowledge and information available to every memeber of human society!     You would think this would yield, or result in, a VERY knowledgeable and WISE society of reasonably well informed people........The opposite seems to be the reality.    Again, WHY?   All I can begin to say on this front is what I stated earlier, that today's "MEDIA"  (Newspapers, Television, Radio and above all, the multitude of online utilities and sources:  Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Instachat, Instablog, InstaSkype, Insta anything-and-everything!)   is all about one thing and one thing only:   MAKING MONEY....THE BURNING QUESTION.....Do you or do you not concur Notes1 (and EVERYONE/ANYONE else  who bemoans and criticizes the so-called "BIAS" and lack of objectivity of today's  "MEDIA", in all its many forms)????    Specifically, do you agree that today's  "MEDIA" is NOT first and foremost about informing, educating and raising awareness about the MANY MANY issues and problems facing the world, but instead is predominantly concerned with MAKING MONEY, which sabotages and undercuts the ability to "objectively educate & inform" people?

[Carcounter]

I am just trying to find the meaning in these poll numbers. Forget the low information voter angle. Why are Obama and Trump both getting large majorities of voters with a high school education or less? What if anything does it mean for the election? I really find this interesting, but confusing.What do Obama and Trump have in common?

[Carcounter]

I have a theory. In the 2012 election, Obama beat Romney by 20 points with this demographic because in that election most of those voters were minorities. Whites with a high school ed or less stayed home because they didn't like either one of them. Now the racial makeup of this group has changed and the whites in this group say they will vote for Trump.Hence he has a 20 point lead over Clinton with this overall group, including minorities. I honestly don't know what this means for the election, maybe nothing becase  it appears that whites with a higher degree of education favor Clinton over Trump and will cancel this group out. I think we are in for more surprises before election day. The debates will be the higest rated in history, even if they are up against the NFL.

[notes1]

[QUOTE=notes1] [QUOTE=Carcounter]
Let's assume for the moment that a low info voter is someone with a high school diploma or less. I know this not entirely accurate, but probably pretty true.

CC, interesting question, I was unaware of those numbers, assumed the election is already decided.

but, I think your assumption about low information criteria is flawed. I/m/o, those who qualify as low information voters is likely 90% or more of the population. young/old, m/f, black/white, college grad or not, very few actually pay any attention to what is going on, outside of a sound bite or a twitter post.[/QUOTE]It is not at all clear what your point here is, or what you appear to be advocating or arguing for (or arguing against, I dunno).....So Am proceeding with total neutrality and nonchalance.....
[/QUOTE]

your statement says a lot about how you look at things. there was no big point being made, not advocating anything, not arguing at all. every statement does not have some deep hidden agenda, just my point of view that most are not informed voters.

[Carcounter]

Thanks, Notes. Couldn't have said it better.

[notes1]

CC, do not know the answer to your question. when O ran he did get approx. 90-95% of the black vote (how racist is that) and about 70-80% of the Hispanic vote. that went a long way to explain why he won in 2012. the R's did not get out their base.

the very few big supporters of T, I have spoken to, seem to have a few things in common. first, many have been more negatively affected by the recession than others. this would correlate with your belief that they are not as well educated. those without a college degree have a much higher unemployment rate. these are the folks, who used to be able to make a good living in areas such as manufacturing, but not anymore more.

but, there are also many, with diverse backgrounds, who believe the country is becoming far too liberal. they believe we are losing our values in areas such as sexual rights, work ethic, morals, personal responsibility, etc.

both parties have diverse supporting factions, that sometimes are at odds with one another. for example, unions vs environmentalists often disagree. but the left is united in one way, only vote for a Dem.

[Carcounter]

My interest in this stems from a conversation I had with my son in law, a very educated and very liberal person who stated that Romney won the High school and less educated group in 2012. This didn't sound right to me, so I checked the Real Clear Politics web site and found exactly the opposite. He was surprised to say the least.

[notes1]

the perception exists that D's care about those who are less fortunate or less well off, and the R's only care about the wealthy. the media constantly reinforces this belief.

I am sure to get negative feedback, from a certain person, for saying this, but that perception is just untrue. conservatives give more per capita to charities than liberals. conservatives believe it is better for each person to earn a paycheck than just to be given something. eliminating sooo many from paying federal taxes, means these folks have no skin in the game. just paying a very small amount of tax, might make folks think a little before endorsing another wasteful spending/ give away program or demand accountability from the spending that already exists. both parties are guilty of this wasteful spending, thus $20T in debt.

as a result, if you are a voter that is reliant upon food stamps, housing assistance, welfare, heating assistance, free healthcare, free school lunches or any of the many assistance programs and the media tells you the evil right will take them away and the left will give more, which way are you going to vote. the left gets a govt supported voting base, that is growing everyday, especially when you let in millions of illegals.

said it many times before, liberals are very smart, very cunning and can be equally nasty.

[DaBurglar]

the perception exists that D's care about those who are less fortunate or less well off, and the R's only care about the wealthy. the media constantly reinforces this belief.

I am sure to get negative feedback, from a certain person, for saying this, but that perception is just untrue. conservatives give more per capita to charities than liberals. conservatives believe it is better for each person to earn a paycheck than just to be given something. eliminating sooo many from paying federal taxes, means these folks have no skin in the game. just paying a very small amount of tax, might make folks think a little before endorsing another wasteful spending/ give away program or demand accountability from the spending that already exists. both parties are guilty of this wasteful spending, thus $20T in debt.

as a result, if you are a voter that is reliant upon food stamps, housing assistance, welfare, heating assistance, free healthcare, free school lunches or any of the many assistance programs and the media tells you the evil right will take them away and the left will give more, which way are you going to vote. the left gets a govt supported voting base, that is growing everyday, especially when you let in millions of illegals.

said it many times before, liberals are very smart, very cunning and can be equally nasty. Well said.......