Since Bush Is Leading In The Polls...Does This Mean We Truly Are Being Lead By The Uneducated?

Apparently, having very little education truly does mean your a Fox watching Bush supporter!

In addition to the horse race numbers, Harris also provides an interesting breakdown of how voting intentions correspond to educational background: It turns out the more education a person has received, the more likely he or she is to support Kerry. Bush's numbers are best in the lowest category, "high school or less," where he gets 51 percent of the vote. But he's an underachiever among those with a college degree (45 percent), and flunks out with a solid F-minus (37 percent) among those with graduate degrees.

Bush seems to have played to his base supporters well.

Here's the link.

www.salon.com...

[edit on 083030p://444 by Weller]

hmmm if that's the case it just proved that the USA has more dumb people than smart ones. I hope more people were educated in the last 4 years, but we'll have to wait till the elections to see though.

Interesting numbers by Harris. Do you have the link to the entire article? I couldn't google anything from your quote. I'm curious about the polling group size, variances, etc.

Bleys

Well, it'd be no better from a philosophical standpoint if we were lead by someone who scored abysmally in lower-educations and came through in stripes with graduates. The President is supposed to represent everybody, even the less intelligent.

For example, 80% of the US population has at least a high school education. Source

Only around 30% graduate with college degrees (still among the highest in the world).

Source1
Source 2
Source 3

Unfortunately, I couldn't find any statistics on how many Americans have above a BS or BA, so I can't do the analysis I wanted to, so I can't actually find out how much of the nation Bush represents (if it is or is not the majority).

EDITED for cleanliness.

[edit on 9-30-2004 by Esoterica]

Originally posted by worldwatcher
hmmm if that's the case it just proved that the USA has more dumb people than smart ones. I hope more people were educated in the last 4 years, but we'll have to wait till the elections to see though.

Actually, the US is among the most highly educated nations in the world (higher than much or Europe, for example)

[/ass]

Well the polls showed Bush ahead by 11, then 5 just before 2000 election, and Al Gore actualy got the majority of the popular vote.

Originally posted by Esoterica
Well, it'd be no better from a philosophical standpoint if we were lead by someone who scored abysmally in lower-educations and came through in stripes with graduates. The President is supposed to represent everybody, even the less intelligent.

For example, 80% of the US population has at least a high school education. Source

Only around 30% graduate with college degrees (still among the highest in the world).

Source1
Source 2
Source 3

Unfortunately, I couldn't find any statistics on how many Americans have above a BS or BA, so I can't do the analysis I wanted to, so I can't actually find out how much of the nation Bush represents (if it is or is not the majority).

EDITED for cleanliness.

[edit on 9-30-2004 by Esoterica]

Yes, but it doesn't mean that the least educated approach should be used to solve problems.

"Violene is the first refuge of the incompetent."

Isaac Asimov

And so far violence in the name of fighting terror has created more terrorists, killed far more innocents than died during 9/11 and has alienated any goodwill we had in the world.

I'm not saying that fighting isn't an option at all, but the situations we face need to be dealt with equal measures of force, intelligence and cooperation. The only thing Bush has done is impose force and gotten the less thoughtful, fearful members of our country behind him to do it.

So, to me, Bush doesn't represent everyone, just the people who agree with him. He is by far the least uniting President we have ever had.

[edit on 093030p://444 by Weller]

Sadly, this doesn't come as a surprise. Did anyone hear some of the callers on C-SPAN while the vote on the marriage amendment was going on? It was almost embarassing how close-minded and small thinking fellow Americans are. "When God made took a rib from Adam to make Eve, he made a girl not a guy." Goodness.

I will give Bush credit. He knows his supporters. They are not thinkers, they are followers. They don't care about the facts, they care about 'what they feel in their hearts.' They still think Iraq and Al-Qaeda were linked. They still think there are WMDs in Iraq. And there is nothing me, John Kerry, or anyone can do to show them that they are WRONG. And Bush and his cronies play into this very well.

I think it takes a whole hell of a lot of arrogance to say that the majority of conservatives are any less educated or intelligent than their liberal counterparts.


Just my two cents.

No, it just takes listening to them.

Originally posted by worldwatcher
hmmm if that's the case it just proved that the USA has more dumb people than smart ones. I hope more people were educated in the last 4 years, but we'll have to wait till the elections to see though.

Damn, that's one of the most close-minded things I've heard in a LONG TIME! Anyone who doesn't agree with you must just be stupid or mis-informed.

Originally posted by Herman

Originally posted by worldwatcher
hmmm if that's the case it just proved that the USA has more dumb people than smart ones. I hope more people were educated in the last 4 years, but we'll have to wait till the elections to see though.

Damn, that's one of the most close-minded things I've heard in a LONG TIME! Anyone who doesn't agree with you must just be stupid or mis-informed.

umm dude, if you read it correctly and you have any idea of the type of person i am you wouldn't be saying that. perhaps my grammar or punctuation in my response isn't adequate enough for you to understand what i said, but I am not agreeing with the original post simply making a comment about it.

Originally posted by Esoterica

Originally posted by worldwatcher
hmmm if that's the case it just proved that the USA has more dumb people than smart ones. I hope more people were educated in the last 4 years, but we'll have to wait till the elections to see though.

Actually, the US is among the most highly educated nations in the world (higher than much or Europe, for example)

[/ass]

Its also the highest in mental illness and deviates.

Originally posted by Odd
I think it takes a whole hell of a lot of arrogance to say that the majority of conservatives are any less educated or intelligent than their liberal counterparts.


Just my two cents.

That's not what the study was pointing out. It was referring to those who support Bush. Read my signature below. A lot of concerned, highly intelligent, educated Conservatives disagree with Bush and his policies.

Originally posted by Weller

Originally posted by Odd

.

That's not what the study was pointing out. It was referring to those who support Bush. Read my signature below. A lot of concerned, highly intelligent, educated Conservatives disagree with Bush and his policies.

[/quote Yes, but who are those conservatives rooting for? Bush. They dont care of the outcome or how opposed they are. They'll still give him their vote. why???

Originally posted by dgtempe
Yes, but who are those conservatives rooting for? Bush. They dont care of the outcome or how opposed they are. They'll still give him their vote. why???

Because he's their guy love him or hate him. I think a lot of them expect major changes if he wins. I'm voting for Kerry because I agree with him on most issues, especially social ones, if the election in 2000 had been between Gore and Powell I probably would have voted for Powell. But this election is a different animal.

Conservatives have an overall agenda they are promoting (abortion control, tax cuts, etc.) and are much more likely to overlook glaring failures to ensure they are enacted.

One of the most important issues of this election is the possibility that the next President will have the opportunity to appoint Supreme Court justices for those that step down or pass away. Conservatives know this all too well and that is the key fact that scares me the most about Bush.

I really feel sorry for Conservatives, a lot of them are stuck in a pickle. They are outnumbered by base of supporters who have no real grasp of the issues. But politics isn't about great change, its about maintaining control and winning.

Then again, Sumner Redstone, an avowed liberal, has recently thrown his support behind George Bush. Why? He said he was voting for the party that would be best for Viacom.

People vote for parties just as much or more than they do for candidates. And nobody agrees with every single idea a party or candidate has. It's a matter of compromise; what's the best deal for you.

If you vote for a candidate, chances are you'll be sorely disappointed. No single person can change much as president; they need the co-operation of the House and Senate. And party values are usually much more permanent than personal ones.

Of course people can talk down a person all they want in public. What goes on behing the curtain, only one person knows.

Originally posted by dgtempe
Its also the highest in mental illness and deviates.

I dont know about that I think Africa has us beat there. In many less develop countries many forms of mental illness goes undiagnosed. I mean did you see that thread on baby raping in Africa thats just plain sick

[edit on 2-10-2004 by ShadowXIX]

Originally posted by jsobecky
People vote for parties just as much or more than they do for candidates. And nobody agrees with every single idea a party or candidate has. It's a matter of compromise; what's the best deal for you.

Good point. I'm not voting for Kerry because I worship him or anything, I just happen to share a lot of social values that the Democrats protect such as equal rights, abortion rights, environmental protection (for the most part, they share some blame for problems in this area as well.) and I especially don't want a Republican in charge when it comes time to appoint Supreme Court justices.

Besides these issues, the Republicans lost me for good when they decided to let the Christian minority take over their party back in 92 with the rise of Ralph Reed.

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[edit on 113131p://666 by Weller]