MyDD: 40% of The People Don't Know Which Party Controls Congress.

[Tandalayo_Scheisskopf]

This is a serious problem, not only for Democrats trying to position themselves as they party of reform, but for the nation in general:
The report is based on a national public opinion survey designed to tap how the civic attitudes, knowledge and participation of young people--the DotNet generation between 15 and 26 years of age--compare to those of older generations. The poll was conducted by Knowledge Networks, a research firm that conducts scientifically based Internet surveys. The sampling error for the two age groups--15 to 26 and over 26--is approximately + 4 percentage points each.(...)

On civic knowledge--the tool that enables us to govern ourselves:

Three-quarters of the older generations correctly identified the party of their state's governor and three out of five knew the Republicans control Congress. But only one-third could correctly identify the party in control of their state's legislature.



Among DotNets, eight out of 10 know that the cartoon Simpsons live in Springfield, and the great majority know that Ruben Studdard is the reigning American Idol. But less than half know the party of their state's governor, and only 40 percent can say which party controls Congress.
No further cirticism of the contemporary news media is needed than this poll, even if it is from September 2003. Conservatives might also want to take note that there is a little bit more needed in education that just teaching kids how to read, write, add and subtract.

http://www.mydd.com/story/2005/4/8/155631/3049

Our job, as a party, is coming much more into focus with this story and report.

[BrklynLiberal]

1. Oy..Have you ever watched that bit on Jay Leno he calls "Jay Walking"?

He asks people general information questions about current events or history...and it is horrifying how stupid people are.

[Syrinx]

5. yeah, but I always assumed those were heavily edited...

Apparently not. :scared:

[tanyev]

13. Yes, I caught one leading up to the election.

I was horrified when most of the people couldn't even name the vice-president, who, as we all know, is the real power behind the throne. Yet another reason why Kerry "lost".

[FreedomAngel82]

18. Speaking of theVP

I was watching the HBO "Left of the Dial" of AAR and they were hanging up their posters for advertising and in the back of the AAR logo they had various people pictured from the Bush administration. One guy was hanging up a poster with Cheney being used and he didn't recognize him. Someone with him told him who he was and the first guy asked who he was and the second guy said the Vice President. The first guy who was hanging the poster said he didn't even know that Cheney was the vice President. I was just shocked. OMFG!

[Clarkie1]

2. That's why the low approval ratings for congress are bad for us, too.

And we should think twice before running one of them for president.

The perception is the political reality.

[xray s]

3. This is no surprise

We are a nation of stupid people.

If you have ever seen the TV program "Street Smarts", you know just how stupid we are.

There is no excuse. The stupidity is self-induced.

[democracyindanger]

4. ignorance is always the real enemy

[Tandalayo_Scheisskopf]

7. The question is not...

Whether this person or that one is stupid or smart or an Ivy Planter. The real question is: What are we gonna DO about this?

They know enough to be angry at Congress. That means that they are not informed and that they can learn.

[democracyindanger]

8. No, it's not "whether." It's just understanding that stupidity,

much of it willful, is the root of all Republicanism. They count on it. That's why they always want to cut school funding. A dumb populace is easier to bamboozle.

[FreedomAngel82]

19. Exactly

They know how to use this so why else do you think they're doing this to our education system? They aren't teaching the kids about anything except how to pass the test so they can have the raitings and make Bush look successful at something. Why else do you think the republicans rely so much on the Bible to get their votes? All you have to do is claim to be a Christian, pro-life, say a few Biblical scriptures and make empty promises.

[kodi]

6. as i age i appreciate republics more than democracies.

mydd's post is why.

[RoyGBiv]

9. True Story

The summer before the 2000 election, I took an advanced history/government course on American elections and the then current election cycle. The pre-reqs for this course ensured that no one took it who hadn't completed most of the requirements for some combination of a history/political science major/minor. In other words, the intended audience for the class was people who were about to graduate ... you know, with college degrees.

One of the requirements of the class was to give a presentation on some subject, after which the rest of the class was supposed to pepper the presenter with tough questions intended to test his or her knowledge. Generally stated, my subject was the relationship between corporate monied interests and the Supreme Court of the United States. I handled the Q&A session pretty well until one student asked me something that totally floored me.

"How do you defend your thesis in light of the fact that the Supreme Court is comprised mainly of liberals appointed by Democratic Presidents?"

I literally threw my note cards in the air. The professor knew what was about to happen (I'd tangled with this guy before in several classes) and called an end to the Q&A, saying the question was flawed and thus irrelevant and that I had defended my thesis well enough. I sorta wish he hadn't.

But anyway, this guy passed that class, barely, and graduated a few months later. Last I heard he was teaching civics related courses, grades 7-9.

[Tandalayo_Scheisskopf]

10. So it's all his fault?

Just kidding. :D

Maybe I'm not. Maybe it is his fault. Him and his ilk.

[Placebo]

11. Americans are such idiots.

It's things like this that make me just ashamed to call myself an American. Stupid fellow citizens, wake up!

[CatholicEdHead]

12. This is why Democrat bashing works

as Democats held the power for a long time last century, many people then assume it is still true. This is why the GOP victim mentality seems to work.

[FreedomAngel82]

20. So true

All you have to do is blame Clinton since he was the last elected democratic president. People believe it even if they don't have the proof. It's so easy for them to just put the blame on liberals and democrats. They have made being a democrat and liberal a horrible thing and it works.

[Still_Loves_John]

14. My big question on this poll would be

whether they were going for a cross section of the country as a whole or just voters. If the poll is just voters, its a HUGE problem because we lose any advantage we've gained from Terri Schiavo and the like because people don't understand that it was the Republicans who were behind it. If it's a cross section of the entire country, then the people who don't know are probably non-voters, and while that's a huge long term problem, it's not a crippling one. I mean, sure, at some point you want to educate them to the point where they will vote, but in the meantime, at least the people who don't know which party controls congress aren't going into a voting booth and randomly filling in the circles.

[LibDemAlways]

15. Part of the problem is schools are so busy

teaching to the test, that kids learn nothing about what's going on in the world. When I was in 6th grade way back when, each day started with a brief discussion of current events. Today my 6th grade daughter learns nothing about current events in school. Whatever she knows, it's because she's heard it at home. I suspect that's not the case in many households. Since school and home are dropping the ball and the media is fixated on crap like Michael Jackson anyway, it's no wonder the populice is so goddamn ignorant.

[FreedomAngel82]

21. I remember doing that

In my health class on Friday's we'd have to bring in an article from the newspaper on a current event and present it to the class and talk a little about it. I wonder if they still do that (I was in this class in 2000).

[Zhade]

16. Maybe being an opposition party would make the Dems stand out.

NT!

[gizmo1979]

17. A democracy needs a educated population

to work right.This is why scare tactics and mud slinging works.40% of the American people only get a snipet of news and the rest they get at the local bar, coffee house, or whatever,they are incapable of making intelligent choices.