Do you think it helps or hurts a candidate for a major office to be behind in the polls? Do you think more people will want to "jump on the band wagon" of someone who is ahead to make them selves feel more normal? Or do you think it will motivate people to have their candidate come from behind?
I have never put much faith in political polls. cato: I don't think it particularly matters. Especially early on. I fail to see how feeling "more normal" has anything to do with who is ahead in a political race. Or why it would cause a person to all of a sudden think they are not "normal" if their candidate was behind in a poll. I do not think that overall it would stimulate someone to vote one way or another unless they really are that easily manipulated.
I'm so behind in the polls that hardly anybody has heard of me. That obviously hurts my chances. I think it would be a big help if I was 90% in the polls instead.
if all your friends were voting for a certain candidate perhaps you would be more inclined to see things from their prospective. moreover, if everyone is singing the praises of one candidate you don’t think that it would sway some people, not even people who cant make up their minds? people do this stuff all the time in other matters, why not with politics? every "good" sports movie has the "good guys" come from behind. we seem to remember major battles in history when someone was the underdog (Thermopylae). why would it not effected someone to think his or her candidate was the underdog? moreover, if they thought their candidate was going to lose then maybe they would get out and go door to door from him and thus get him more votes. I think you give people more credit than they disserve.
What I took issuen with was the way you phrased the question...more normal...as in I would feel abnormal if who I liked running was behind in a poll. Cato Nope. Remember you just asked me a personal question and the answer is no. I would not. But then again I don't ask my friends who they are voting for. That is probably one of the reasons we are still friends. I never said it would not sway people, I said I fail to see how it makes a person feel "less normal" thereby wanting to feel "more normal" by going along with the herd if that was not their intention in the first place. Yes I know we all like to see the little guy who gets shit on to win in the end. I never said it would not affect the person, though I don't think it affects them as much as you would like to think. I do not see that if a person's candidate is behind it would compel them to jump on the bandwagon with the winning candidate. Some might, sure but most people I have ever met stick with their candidate till the bitter end. Usually screaming and shouting and what have you. Political people are freaky crazy that way. I could see that their candidate being behind could possibly compell them to go out and try to help get more votes sure...but I do not think the majority of people would do that. So yes it might compell them but no I don't think the majority of people would run out and do it. I am also not going to sit here and argue with you. You asked me (the board as a whole) what I thought. And that is simply what I thought. I did not discount that is could or could not happen, indeed it probably does. But my opinion concerning people in general I still say I fail to see through your examples how the majority would behave in this way. Yes. That happens with me frequently according to some people. I find it amusing that you ask a question with, apparently, the attitude that we all want to be sheep and then make this comment that we don't deserve being given the benefit of the doubt or at least the common courtesy to accept we might make our own decisions. You might as well just started out with that instead of getting around to it eventually.
It was just a hypothetical situation; there could be any number of ways that one could be effected by the news of a candidate’s standing in the polls. I am sorry if I implied that people are sheep, I simply wanted you thoughts on what effect you think polls could have. Didn’t you say you thought it would not sway people? Well, I only used one or two examples out of thousands of possible ways it could effected people so when I said it could make people feel "normal" to vote the winning candidate I didn’t mean that it was the only way a person could react. IT WAS ONLY ONE POSSIBLE EXAMPLE! But you are right in saying a lot of people would stick with their candidate no matter what. Care to elaborate? Do you think a small lead helps or hurts? At what point do you think it will reverse? Or will it reverse? Please stop attacking my examples, I am sure there is at least one person in the entire world who would be swayed that was, thus my example is valid. If you can think of a reason the poll would have a larger impact on an election please feel free to tell us about it. That is the purpose of the thread.
Cato posted: No. Not specifically. I had said: If we both agree that overall people would not be moved to change their vote or get out there and recruit more votes for an underdog, I don’t see why this is such an issue. And I wasn’t picking on or attacking your example. I commented on the example as you worded it and nothing more. I apologize if I was supposed to read into it. I try not to do that sort of thing. Also, I am not sure where you get the impression that alluded that your example was not valid.
