The Power of Political Ignorance
Lynn Vavreck, NYT
MAY 23, 2014
Split-ticket voting is quite rare for top offices like president and senator. But those who do choose candidates from different parties on Election Day have at least one thing in common: They know less about politics than people who vote the straight party line.
Where you live and who is running for office certainly shape the odds that you will split your ballot, but by far the best predictor is how much general political knowledge you have.
It is easy to come up with examples of cross-party statewide outcomes: New Jersey (which voted for President Obama twice) and its two-term Republican governor, Chris Christie; or California and Arnold Schwarzenegger. There are plenty of reasons for split-party statewide outcomes, including popular incumbents and changes in who turns out to vote for different offices in different years.
(More here.)
MAY 23, 2014
Split-ticket voting is quite rare for top offices like president and senator. But those who do choose candidates from different parties on Election Day have at least one thing in common: They know less about politics than people who vote the straight party line.
Where you live and who is running for office certainly shape the odds that you will split your ballot, but by far the best predictor is how much general political knowledge you have.
It is easy to come up with examples of cross-party statewide outcomes: New Jersey (which voted for President Obama twice) and its two-term Republican governor, Chris Christie; or California and Arnold Schwarzenegger. There are plenty of reasons for split-party statewide outcomes, including popular incumbents and changes in who turns out to vote for different offices in different years.
(More here.)
1 Comments:
A true statement :
It is more likely that split-ticket voters are buffeted by idiosyncratic factors, like incumbency status, recent campaign advertising, and the tone and share of news coverage candidates receive.
The proof may be found in Minnesota's Second District, where in the 2012 elections, the district voters went with Obama, Klobuchar, a Minnesota State Senate, rejecting same-sex marriage and voter Id constitutional amendments ... while re-electing John Kline by 8 points.
Why ... 'cause the "Gregarious Grandpa" sends those "colorful mailers" trumpeting what he has done ... like getting the Red Bulls their backpay (btw, you did not get the same mailer from Tim Walz who was just as active on the issue because Walz said nobody should be politicizing it) ... and now has mailed "Congratulations, on your high school graduation" and "Congressional Certificates".
Ask people if they know who is responsible for increasing student loan interest rates from 3.4% to 4.66% and they won't respond John Kline but ask them who sent their kid a card, and they will remember his name.
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