ptosis profile image 95

True or a Lie? Propaganda machine?


An USA Today/Gallup poll named Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton as the most admired man and woman alive. Do you think this is true or total B.S.?

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Stacie L profile image95

Stacie L says

Polls are very deceiving. we don't know the total number of people polled,their demographic location,gender,economic status,political party,etc.

17 % of a total isn't very high.

 |  (+4)  |  5 months ago  |  Comment
writeronline profile image96

writeronline says

I think what Stacie L says is right on the money.

But, assuming you're quoting the result literally, I'd also ask,

Are we to believe this result encompasses the whole world?

How many people outside the US were included in the USA Today/Gallup poll?

Absent that information, the claim should probably be " According to the results of a domestic US poll, where total respondent numbers are clearly not sufficient to equate to a representative standard of world opinion, Barack Obama and Hilary Clinton were rated the most admired man and woman alive - in the USA."

It should probably also have a rider saying, 'Selected from a preset list of nominees prepared by USA Today Editors and Gallup Poll research strategists"

Finally, (sorry to go on, I just hate seeing all this pseudo-research posing as truth), I haven't seen the poll, and won't be wasting time looking, but unless either of the two achieved a vote above 50% of the total ratings, it would be more honest to say, 'Barack Obama and Hilary Clinton were rated least un-admired.'

Poll results are like statistics. Fodder for spin merchants.

Winston Churchill understood how powerfully manipulative statistics can be, when he rated them in sequence, "Lies. Damn lies. And statistics"

 |  (+3)  |  5 months ago  |  Comment
Old Empresario profile image93

Old Empresario says

I don't admire them at all. All politicians are just geeks who want to be famous, but who are too ugly for television and not built for sports.

 |  (+3)  |  5 months ago  |  Comment
Pcunix profile image94

Pcunix says

I wouldn't say I admire either of them, but I respect their intelligence and generally agree with their political stances.

As we are rather short of people worthy of even tepid admiration today, it may well be true that these two would be at or near the top of such a list.

Of course if you are one of the diminishing number of Tea Party folks, you may still be full of anger and more.

 |  (+3 / -1)  |  5 months ago  |  Comment
brittanytodd profile image90

brittanytodd says

I don't think so. We have to be so careful reading poll results. People may have just clicked on those options because they didn't have any better ones or didn't know any of the other candidates. What a strange result.

 |  (+3)  |  5 months ago  |  Comment
83

soumyasrajan says

There is a famous book "how to lie with Statistics"

Polls are often conducted in manner which does not take care of such possibilities.

 |  (+4)  |  5 months ago  |  Comment
American View profile image85

American View says

Well polls are decieving for many reasons. I would not say I admire them I do respect them for the positions they hold. I do not agree with Obama policies in any way. On the other hand Clinton has grown politically with her new job. She has done a far better job than I gave her credit for when she was appointed.

 |  (+4)  |  5 months ago  |  Comment
xethonxq profile image80

xethonxq says

Admiration is probably not the correct word. I like them both, but I wouldn't say I admire them. They are interesting...maybe even intriguing. I certainly think Barack has a charismatic quality about him. Hillary might be more enigmatic...not sure.

 |  (+3)  |  5 months ago  |  Comment
Nancy's Niche profile image86

Nancy's Niche says

My personal opinion; it's BS! Obama recently signed onto the NDAA bill, which, if you’ve read up on it, is the destruction of our liberties, and freedoms...This is the same bill that he claimed he would veto and last Friday, he signed it!

For your information: http://www.aclu.org/lgbt-rights-reproductive-freed

http://www.infowars.com/

 |  (+2 / -1)  |  5 months ago  |  Comment
ptosis profile image95

ptosis says

Who were the other choices in this biased poll?

All the people who died in 2011?

Muammar al-Qaddfi

Kim Jong-il

and

Osama bin Laden

?!?!?!?!

 |  (+1)  |  5 months ago  |  Comment
sandy1973mypetdog profile image87

sandy1973mypetdog says

I would have to disagree, not two people that are admirable, the definition of that word does not fit the two in my opinion. It is a poll, that's all, so take it for what you want.

 |  (+2)  |  5 months ago  |  Comment

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