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Absolutely an absurd theory. The low information voter is virtually a Right Wing monopoly. But it is also immaterial to mid term election turn out.
That turnout is driven almost entirely by zealotry. And that is the Republican forte. Their limited intelligence voters simply turn out in higher numbers than those of the left when there are not exciting issues or people involved.
Any of you ever listen to Hannity or Rush? Ever attend a Tea Party event? The sasd thing is that those defectives can actually influence an off year election.
I actually like the conservative argument about the low information voter. While it is true there are likely low information voters out there the conflation of the low information voter with the low turnout voter is not necessarily accurate and the more the GOP misunderstand people who vote democratic the better imho because they are less able to do something about it in the near term.
So what kinda "low information voter" are we talking about then… unless maybe that's just become the new GOP euphemism for 'darkies', 'welfare queens', 'joos', 'illegals', and pretty much everybody else "that ain't like us"?!!
Red State USA: Poor, Scared, Less Educated, and Left Behind
"Conservatism, at least at the state level, appears to be growing stronger. Ironically, this trend is most pronounced in America's least well-off, least educated, most blue collar, most economically hard-hit states. Conservatism, more and more, is the ideology of the economically left behind."
So what kinda "low information voter" are we talking about then… unless maybe that's just become the new GOP euphemism for 'darkies', 'welfare queens', 'joos', 'illegals', and pretty much everybody else "that ain't like us"?!!
Red State USA: Poor, Scared, Less Educated, and Left Behind
"Conservatism, at least at the state level, appears to be growing stronger. Ironically, this trend is most pronounced in America's least well-off, least educated, most blue collar, most economically hard-hit states. Conservatism, more and more, is the ideology of the economically left behind."
I don't know that there is any proof. I have noticed that a lot of these kind of threads lack direct evidence of the key points. Personally I think that is a good thing, especially if it goes up the chain, just look at what happened to Mitt Romney, he used unskewed polls, because based on no evidence he made assumptions about democratic voters, the result was his campaign spent all of October flying blind and misallocating resources to places he had no chance while neglecting states that presented problems. I can only hope this remains the case.
I personally do not subscribe to the biased theory that was presented. Be that as it may, Republican campaigning is largely based on the element of fear. Fear of progress, fear of others, fear of terrorism, fear of the unknown, fear of science and disease.
That campaign policy really works well on risk-averse or low-risk voters who are terrified of change and any other unknown or random factors of life, and many who have the added value you seek--low info. Nothing like fear to get out the vote.
People such as "Walmart moms." During focus-group interviews Newhouse and colleagues conducted earlier this month in Arkansas and Iowa, two key battleground states this November, "Walmart Moms express specific concern about ISIS," Newhouse said in a memo about the data."
"Numerous political ads, paid for by both outside groups and the Republican Party, warn of the “dangerous world” we inhabit and “imminent attacks” being plotted by terrorists."
"The National Republican Congressional Committee is running ads warning that terrorists are streaming across the Mexican border."
"Hear it on cable television and talk radio, where pundits and politicians play scientists speculating on whether Ebola will mutate into an airborne virus that kills millions."
Sorry, but the Republicans didn't campain with throwing grandmothers over a cliff, saying the opposing party is going to take away your kid's school lunch, or they want dirty water, dirty air, etc.
As far as who is the "low-information voter party, I doubt the lady standing on the side of the road screaming "e'rbody come and get yo Obama phone" was a Repulican. And I'm pretty sure the lady saying she didn't have to worry about paying her mortgage or putting gas in her car voted for McCain...just sayin'.
Sorry, but the Republicans didn't campain with throwing grandmothers over a cliff, saying the opposing party is going to take away your kid's school lunch, or they want dirty water, dirty air, etc.
As far as who is the "low-information voter party, I doubt the lady standing on the side of the road screaming "e'rbody come and get yo Obama phone" was a Repulican. And I'm pretty sure the lady saying she didn't have to worry about paying her mortgage or putting gas in her car voted for McCain...just sayin'.
Oh you have your own special people and the GOP uses its share of fear. Remember 2014 the GOP campaign was all about IS and Ebola, not to mention its well known that Bush manipulated terror alert levels for political purposes (Tom Ridge admitted as much).
With that said this all confuses the issue and that is that there really is no evidence low turnout voters = low info voters. I know a fair amount of people that are very well informed, but only vote in presidential elections for various reasons, mostly notably because they don't like voting and politics, and in presidential years they cannot get away from people pressuring them to vote until they agree to do it.
So what kinda "low information voter" are we talking about then… unless maybe that's just become the new GOP euphemism for 'darkies', 'welfare queens', 'joos', 'illegals', and pretty much everybody else "that ain't like us"?!!
Red State USA: Poor, Scared, Less Educated, and Left Behind
"Conservatism, at least at the state level, appears to be growing stronger. Ironically, this trend is most pronounced in America's least well-off, least educated, most blue collar, most economically hard-hit states. Conservatism, more and more, is the ideology of the economically left behind."
First of all education level and being politically informed are not the same thing. I knew a guy who delivered newspapers for a living; obviously he did not have a college degree. But he delivered 4-5 newspapers including the WSJ and NYT and read all of them every day. He was one of the most politically informed guys I have ever met.
Second of all, this is simple common sense. If a voter only shows up for presidential elections, he/she is ipso facto uninformed. He/she realizes the importance of the president, but not the importance of the congress.
Lastly there are various studies that have backed up the link between the low info voter and the Democratic party:
According to a Washington Post-Harvard University survey taken shortly after the 1996 election, Bob Dole actually beat Bill Clinton 47% to 42% among voters who could accurately identify where each candidate stood on key issues. Among the most uninformed voters, Clinton achieved his margin of victory, winning 53% to 33%.
In a separate study performed by a Princeton University political scientist, it was determined that incumbent Democrats have a natural 7% "ignorance bonus" of voters who actually vote against their own beliefs and interests.
First of all education level and being politically informed are not the same thing. I knew a guy who delivered newspapers for a living; obviously he did not have a college degree. But he delivered 4-5 newspapers including the WSJ and NYT and read all of them every day. He was one of the most politically informed guys I have ever met.
Second of all, this is simple common sense. If a voter only shows up for presidential elections, he/she is ipso facto uninformed. He/she realizes the importance of the president, but not the importance of the congress.
Lastly there are various studies that have backed up the link between the low info voter and the Democratic party:
Both parties receive less votes in non presidential elections.
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