Please Be Satire, Or a Reason for Pessimism

My houseguests and I were watching some inauguration coverage on the tv this morning. One of the newsreaders discussed some data on Americans’ knowledge of President Obama’s political philosophy.

13% of those polled said that President Obama is a conservative. This was a surprise. 13%? Really?

A second 13% bloc was more honest, or at least more secure about their ignorance. They were the “don’t know/don’t care” contingent. I can respect that.

Now add those numbers up. If the poll’s sample is representative, then more than one quarter of Americans do not know if the president is a liberal or a conservative.

People complain about low turnouts during elections. If this is the state of public opinion, then turnout is far too high.