They fucked up pretty badly, didn’t they?
(Source: NYT)
My guess would be the kind of people who work in polling organisations are cut from the same cloth as the media, academic, and other establishment figures they are supposed to be getting opinions about. As such they probably don’t even know where to start looking for contradicting opinions, unaware they even exist. You can imagine it, can’t you?
“Well, I’ve done the tour of Columbia University, Google, Tesla, and Goldman Sachs and I couldn’t find anyone who is going to vote for Trump. Hillary’s a shoo-in.”
These organisations need a better understanding of their country, who lives in it, and where. As Trump bothered to do, in fact.
What I find annoying is that in five months time, questioning the result of a poll will again be proof that you hate science and are a moron.
This is mildly amusing, though there’s probably better examples out there:
http://www.avclub.com/article/twitter-reacts-trump-lawyers-says-who-moment-cnn-241312
He should phone O and say that if O pardons Evilry then he, O, will be investigated for the next four years. No more Mr Nice Guy, Trump old horse. Start draining the swamp.
I do believe the silent majority have woken up to the fact that the only way to beat progressives is to lie to them. They have taken a leaf out of the progressives book. If asked who do you support they just say the progressive candidate. It keeps the trolls and nasties away, lulls them into a false sense of security and opens them up to being given their comeuppance when the time is right.
Their reputation is now irretrievably fucked. Good.
All sorts of initiatives that need legislation will be blocked by the legislature. So Trump should concentrate on getting rightish radicals in charge next time. That means mass jailings of corrupt Dems (and GOPers too, if he can nail ’em) especially the Clintons, sorting out voter fraud, sorting out charities and foundations that are corrupt or partisan (including any – if there are any – that are partisan towards the GOP), and so on. Make good picks for the Supreme Court. Use his executive position to avoid wars. (I assume that Congress would never have the balls to declare war if the Prez were agin.) It would be wonderful if he could contrive that the CIA, FBI, USN, USAF etc could become competent, but that’s a pipe dream.
The next financial catastrophe will be blamed on him so he might as well prepare his propaganda defences now.
I wonder whether there are any useful amendments of the Constitution he could persuade the nation to adopt.
Scott Adams was ultimately correct about the election. Now we’ll see if Trump can move the Overton window even further and accomplish that which he said he would. I can only imagine the fear running through the halls of the GOPe headquarters.
Aristhenes beat me to it. There has been such a shaming by the establishment, that it has utterly blinded them.
As for what happens next, let’s hold on tight!
@Howard
There is a side of me that says that the “elites” are laughing all the way to the bank on this one.
I don’t think the pollsters got it wrong as such. I believe that significant numbers of people simply lied to them. The amount of abuse directed at people who expressed support for Trump is such that many wouldn’t discuss it outside a voting booth.
Agree that Scott Adams called this just about to perfection.
Not everybody. The LA Times and IBD/TIPP polls did a good job. Breitbart/Gravis, too.
Someone said recently that a lot of the surveys made by people are done in their own ‘comfort’ zone. For example, when a University says “the vast majority of those surveyed said they believed in global warming” it is because they never went outside their own part of the world. Everyone asked was of the same mindset as themselves.
It follows then that many of these polls would have been conducted in the sort of places where the pollsters feel comfortable, and that includes intellectually comfortable. Why go out and ask the masses when the masses are so disgusting to the unquestioning adherents of elite power and privilege?
By the way, I knew someone whose job for a time was to ask people on the street their opinions. She said the hardest task she had to do was stop people and ask, if they were over sixty, did they chew gum? She had to stick to an area of one town and of course only ask oldies who passed by. It took all day to find two or three, but how much easier if she had been allowed to go and ask at a chewing gum factory where they handed out free samples to workers.
David Moore,
I don’t think the pollsters got it wrong as such. I believe that significant numbers of people simply lied to them. The amount of abuse directed at people who expressed support for Trump is such that many wouldn’t discuss it outside a voting booth.
Exactly. I believe this is the mechanism behind the pollsters’ failures in the Scottish referendum, the 2015 UK General Election, and Brexit. Thank heavens for the secret ballot.
Alex,
Not everybody. The LA Times and IBD/TIPP polls did a good job. Breitbart/Gravis, too.
Yes, agreed. I only found this out yesterday.
Watcher,
By the way, I knew someone whose job for a time was to ask people on the street their opinions. She said the hardest task she had to do was stop people and ask, if they were over sixty, did they chew gum?
That’s a good anecdote, and I think you’re spot on as to why the pollsters got it so wrong.