“Asked how many members of the House of Reps there were, Stein guessed 600-some before hosts corrected her.”

  • Rekorse
    link
    fedilink
    arrow-up
    1
    ·
    2 months ago

    Sure that could happen, but then you never had those voters. At some point you have to lay the blame at the people who voted like this, if it happens.

    This is like saying that getting a question wrong on a test can be the difference between pass and fail, and then picking a question at random and deciding to focus on that instead of the whole test.

    You are right it could be enough people to match the difference in votes, but thats not the same as saying its essential we get that voter block no matter what. Theres a ton of things that make a difference, but its the collection of them that makes a candidate.

    • sensiblepuffin@lemmy.world
      link
      fedilink
      arrow-up
      1
      ·
      2 months ago

      Your test analogy kind of proves the point, though. Say you have a 10 question test and 8 are very easy, and the last 2 are very difficult. In general, if you’ve done your homework, you should get most of the first 8. Whether or not you get a really good grade will depend more on the last 2. I think both parties are guilty of assuming they’ll get the first 8 correct no problem, but there is a tactically sound reason to focus on the last 2.

      • Rekorse
        link
        fedilink
        arrow-up
        1
        ·
        2 months ago

        I’d argue they focus too little on the first 8 and too much on the last 2. Both would be an error in analysis of course.

        Also it runs the risk of people applying statistics to individual cases, or groups too small to be statistically relevant.

        • sensiblepuffin@lemmy.world
          link
          fedilink
          arrow-up
          1
          ·
          2 months ago

          I agree with you - and that’s why gerrymandering is a problem, because it makes the last 2 questions more valuable to study for. As for statistics, that’s for pollsters and analysts to work on.

          • Rekorse
            link
            fedilink
            arrow-up
            1
            ·
            2 months ago

            If everyone knows gerrymandering is bad, why is it still allowed to happen?

            • sensiblepuffin@lemmy.world
              link
              fedilink
              arrow-up
              1
              ·
              2 months ago

              Because a good chunk of the population doesn’t understand what it is and why it’s bad, and a serious percentage of politicians benefit from it.

              • Rekorse
                link
                fedilink
                arrow-up
                1
                ·
                2 months ago

                Are you saying its essentially a thing Republicans don’t know about or understand? I have to assume every democrat has heard the word, and it has simple explanations too.

                I was under the impression republicans knee but defended it but it could be an ignorance thing, thats a fair point.