9 thoughts on “How Obama Got Elected [VIDEO]”

1. Yes, as an English teacher I push kids to look at both sides of issues and consider the source of the information they view as fact.

   My question for you is if you did the same before posting this video, which was funded by the RNC (not an unbiased source).

   I had trouble controlling my knee-jerk reaction to this post–I was offended by the implication in the video (not addressed in your post) that Obama voters, in general, are ignorant.

   Instead of writing a plain-old angry response, I did a little research online. The sample wasn’t of an appropriate size to truly address the question, the data is clearly biased (not addressing McCain voters with any of the same questions), and does not, necessarily address issues for voters at the polls (http://www.howobamagotelected.com/). The people voting weren’t voting for Nancy Pelosi or Barney Frank, and the questions themselves were clearly biased.

   Though the Wikipedia entry on John Ziegler (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Ziegler_(talk_show_host))is also clearly biased, it raises some important questions about his work, which seems biased even before getting facts on the matter.

   I’m sorry to rant. My hope is that your question wasn’t meant to be as biased as I read it to be.

2. Exactly. I’m not trying to be biased in the question. These interview subjects clearly were not chosen at random and were not representative of the general population. This video seems to be blatant propaganda as far as I’m concerned.

   The deeper concern, though, is that these people presumably went in and voted for more than simply Obama. I would assume they chose candidates in many of the races. I interpret their lack of knowledge of such things as “which party controls congress” to mean that they have done little, if any, research on the issues for which they are voting.

   Similarly, a lot of people seem to choose their religion simply on what they have grown up doing, rather than searching out their beliefs and digging for more info.

   By the way, thanks for doing the research on Ziegler. I’ll be sure to check it out. :)

3. Our Social Studies teachers were fantastic during the election process. Besides having our school-wide mock election, our students were asked to review a series of ads from both sides of the aisle and then forced to research those ads for their validity. It was an eye-opening experience for the students to witness the blatant misinformation sent out while still having students research the candidates and their views (actual vs. stated).

   I don’t really think the posted video was a fair example of propaganda in that only one video of bias is presented, especially in light of the obvious misinformation propagated against Obama during the election. This is not to say that McCain wasn’t attacked as well, but two videos would have eliminated the appearance of prejudice.

   This reminds me of the claims that Bush used the term “strategery” when SNL actually did this when he was satirized with the word or when people spun Gore’s internet claims about “inventing” the internet when he was actually talking about the current uses of the internet.

   I’m curious to hear what other schools did with this year’s election. What an opportunity!

4. It would be very easy to pull a couple dozen McCain voters out of line and ask them “Which candidate is really a Muslim?” and “Which candidate supports teaching kindergartners about sex?” and “Who is John Boehner/ Mitch McConnell?” The point is: American voters aren’t very engaged in the political process. And look where that’s gotten us: Guantanamo Bay, No Child Left Behind, and the economic meltdown.

   So the Rs and Ds presented us with two *very* engaging candidates this year–Barack Obama and Sarah Palin–as well as two old veterans of many political battles. Each has a vision of what this country should be and do. Take your pick.

   I found this video, which was intended to make me believe that Obama voters were idiots, doing quite the reverse. It made me hopeful that people who have never been engaged in the critical political decisions impacting their lives finally got stirred up enough to actually vote.

   I include in this group many teachers. I am always surprised by the number of teachers who are not politically engaged–don’t know how No Child Left Behind has impacted their life’s work, don’t follow education policy changes in their state, etc.

5. I would like to see what the McCain voters would say if they were asked equally important questions.

6. Sadly, I think this is indicative of most American voters. I don’t think it’s fair to just target Obama supporters, since you can find just as many uninformed voters on the Republican side. The truth is many Americans don’t follow politics, let alone congressional politics, and they are heavily biased by the media when it comes to election time.

   A few years ago a friend and I couldn’t believe an episode of Jay Leno’s “Sidewalking,” where he asked people on the street the name of our current Vice President, and noone knew. So we conducted our own test, and asked a couple doxen random people on the street the names of our current and last 2 VPs. Only about 25% could answer all 3, and only 65% could name the current one.

   Try it out – ask a few people some of these questions and you’ll see for yourself.

7. I’m surprised that people find this video shocking. While I am not a political junkie, I do consider myself relatively informed about the political porcess. Sure, I can tell you who controls congress and who Nancy Pelosi is. But I would have had diffuclty answering questions like “Who is Barney Frank?”

   Turth is– very few Americans have the time, energy, ability, or interest to delve into polics that deeply. We needed to know where politicians stand on the issues that are important to us. And we DO need to be educated voters. But that doesn’t mean we need to be absolute political experts to make an informed decision.

   As for students… because of their age and life experiences, I’d expect them to know much less than the average adult does about these things. Should we really be alarmed if they don’t know who the speaker of the house is… or if they can identify he congressman of Massachusetts? I don’t think that would make them less qualified to make a judgement on the issues. And accusing the average american 18-year-old of being an unqualified voter, won’t exactly motivate him or her to get involved in the process.

8. Not a nice piece. Here’s what Nate at 538 did to the producer:

   Zogby engages in push polling

   Interview with talk radio guy who commissioned push poll

   But I would guess that a large proportion of voters are only moderately familiar with the sort of details that the blogs and talk radio serve up as daily fare. Ask about taxes, war, abortion and the vague answers would probably reassure that most people had at least a clue.

9. Thanks Jonathan for your links. Very interesting stuff. It’s amazing how even those who complain about media bias are often biased themselves.

   I edited this post and added a link to a similar article over on Joanne Jacobs’ website. Check it out.

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