Letters to the Editor: What use are polls in an era of rampant Republican disinformation?
To the editor: Any public opinion poll of both Democrats and Republicans in our current hyper-partisan environment will be misleading. (“Californians are in a sour mood, which should be good news for Republicans. It’s not,” column, Oct. 16)
Although there is some variation in the opinions of Democrats and independents, Republicans are lockstep in their belief that the state and the country, when led by Democrats, are heading in the wrong direction.
And how could they not be? It’s all they are hearing from conservative media. Spend any time in that information ecosphere, and you will find the looming 2024 election has elevated the already steady drumbeat of misery, catastrophe and sin into a frenetic cacophony of Armageddon‘s greatest hits.
To them, President Biden is an animated corpse controlled by a shadowy cabal of Marxist environmentalist radicals cackling with glee as they let inflation run unchecked. This nefarious glitterati has ground the economy to a halt so your jobs can be given to gang members crossing the border, every one of them with a 100-pound sack of fentanyl strapped to their back.
Meanwhile, God-fearing children are forcibly having their pronouns altered by anti-parent activists who are indoctrinating kids in the dual evils of gender fluidity and historical racism.
And our only hope of surviving this hellscape? Electing Donald Trump.
Greg Seyranian, Redondo Beach
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To the editor: I can help explain the contradiction Skelton finds between polls showing dissatisfaction with the direction of the state and country and the fact that voters in California keep electing Democrats.
It’s the questions. I’m barraged by pollsters, all of whom ask the most poorly written questions with no opportunity to provide context.
Example: “Is the country going in the right direction?” As a Democrat, I answer no, but this is not because of President Biden. It’s because of MAGA extremism, the dysfunction of a GOP-led House of Representatives and ridiculous identity politics. The poll assumes the response applies to a Democratic leadership issue.
These questions are trash, generally written in a way to extrapolate the view of the organization’s customer, not to understand the real issues that voters case about.
Wendy Winter, Altadena
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To the editor: Skelton writes that California voters are concerned about crime, yet they won’t vote Republican. He evidently thinks Republicans might do a better job than Democrats at deterring crime.
Two of the biggest drivers of crime are poverty and easy access to guns. The Republican record on these two issues is dismal.
Casey Rogers, Oakland
