There. I've said it. The pollsters are all siding with President Obama. By failing to ask how voters would vote if given an option other than Obama, they make his election seem inevitable. The truth is that independents and some demographic groups that are not loyal to democrats or Republicans, like people under 30 and Latinos will decide the election. Asking poll questions that let poll respondents express their preferences for Democrats other than Obama will open up the conversation.
Voters and readers and viewers deserve to have the questions asked:
Is there another candidate who polls against the Republican candidates better than Obama?
Does a generic Democratic candidate poll better against Republican candidates better than Obama?
All the latest polling matches Obama to the major Republican candidates, and President Obama generally comes out lacking and losing or ending up in a statistical tie with all of them but Bachmann.
Pollsters Should Do Their Jobs, Instead of Maintaining Status Quo
If the pollsters were doing their job, they'd be polling the Republican candidates against a generic Democratic candidate, at the least, and better, would match the Republican candidates against different potential candidates who have been mentioned as potential candidates if Obama was primaried or if he withdrew his candidacy-- Bernie Sanders, Elizabeth Warren, Russ Feingold, Al Gore, Hillary Clinton, to name a few.
Many Democrats are saying that ONLY Obama can beat a Republican candidate. But they don't know. They're speculating. One way to be far more certain is to do the polls I'm suggesting. If they are not done, you have to ask the old question Qui Buono... who benefits?
What do you think?
If you agree, tweet this article to the pollsters.
@gallupnews @RasmussenPoll @QuinnipiacPoll @HarrisPoll @fivethirtyeight @pewresearch @ipsosnewspolls @celindalake @ GQRResearch
Another thought. I'm not very interested, at this stage in seeing polling matching Obama against other Democratic candidates. It's too early for that. First, let's see how any other Democrat but Obama does against the Republican candidates.
I expect the Obama apologists to recite their usual litany:
-"primarying a candidate causes losses."
Not always true. LBJ was primaries and that led Robert Kennedy to become a candidate, leading to LBJ dropping out. I'm hoping Obama will pull an LBJ. Primarying LBJ didn't cause a loss. Sirhan Sirhan Assassinating Kennedy did.
-"There are no good candidates."
Out of over 310 million Americans, there are plenty. Personally, I'd like to see a woman run. If Obama steps down, candidates will emerge-- good ones.
-"It's too late."
Kennedy didn't announce until after New Hampshire. Anything is possible.
Last, we saw what happened in the race to replace Anthony Weiner-- Obama had "reverse" coattails that cost the candidate the election. If Obama does run, it will cost the Democrats many seats in the house and senate. Another candidate could not only save those seats but also help bring more wins with coattails that help not hinder Democratic candidates.
this is an updated crosspost from an article originally published at Opednews.com