bounty44
Posts: 6374
Joined: 11/1/2014
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lastly---because ive been piling on quite a bit:
"Who are the Low Information Voters?"
quote:
The description of a class of people known as "low information voters" became a popularized term among conservatives following the 2008 election of Barack Obama. It was a very common phrase during the 2012 election between Obama and Republican challenger Mitt Romney....
The oft-talked about low-information voters are those people who have little interest or understanding of political affairs, rarely watch the news, and can't name major political figures or national events yet vote anyway on this limited knowledge basis. Low information voters can definitely be both Republican and Democratic voters, but Democratic "outreach" to these voters hit new heights in 2008...
In reality, there have always been low information voters. But the 2008 and 2012 elections saw these segments targeted more than ever before. Through advances in social media, the Obama campaign sought to position Obama as a "celebrity" as much as a politician. Their was very little interest in who Obama was, what positions he held, or what he had accomplished. Instead, the campaign focused mostly on his race and the "historic" nature of his presidential run and focused on building up his image in the way celebrities are built up. While the Democrats knew they would lock up traditional Democratic voters, they sought out a way to turn out those who were very unlikely to vote: the low-information voters. By giving people a celebrity to vote for - and turning Obama into Mr. Cool - many younger voters turned out who otherwise usually would not have.
After election day 2008, pollster John Zogby was commissioned to do a poll of Obama voters immediately after they voted. The results were not impressive. While Obama voters overwhelmingly knew frivolous information about Sarah Palin such as the RNC's $150,000 wardrobe expenditures and about her daughters, they knew very little about Obama. By more than 2-1 they attributed an Obama quote about coal and energy prices to McCain, while most were unaware of the comment at all, despite it being a heavily debated topic during the campaign. A second poll by Wilson Research Strategies found similar results. McCain voters were overwhelmingly more likely to have greater general knowledge on most questions, the only questions Obama voters scored high on were frivolous...
get the idea yet?
http://usconservatives.about.com/od/glossaryterms/a/Who-Are-The-Low-Information-Voters.htm
< Message edited by bounty44 -- 9/26/2015 2:31:45 PM >
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62% of Republican Voters.... - .gif){kind=avatar}
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