Lying Doesn't Matter: The Low Information, Undecided Voter

[tjdee]

One thing that really disturbed me last night, and again today, was Lawrence O'Donnell's insistence that Ryan's speech was really effective even though it was riddled with lies. He said tha t most people who DO care and ARE informed already made up our minds, some of us years ago, so the speech was not for us.

It's not just Larry. Pundit after pundit is saying well, the facts were off but WOW that Ryan!

Is this the "New American Century"? Lie to people because they won't bother to look it up anyway? Do Americans like being treated like idiots?

[annabanana]

1. I wonder if it would be better if CIVICS was taught, K-12

as something other than a 2 day review in Social Studies...

[Stinky The Clown]

2. O'Donnell is absolutely right. The lies are effective

[otohara]

3. Don't Forget "Independents"

who I've found to be some of the most uninformed voters out there.

[Spider Jerusalem]

4. The ugly truth: most voters are "low information" voters

voter turnout in 2008 was 56.8 percent of the electorate (the highest since 1968). Of that 56 percent or so, about 70 percent are self-identified partisans, who are mostly people whose minds are already made up; most of those people are not news junkies or especially well informed, but base their decisions on a host of other things like an almost tribal partisan loyalty. The thirty percent or so of "swing voters" are probably not any worse informed than the average self-proclaimed Republican or Democrat, but they're less invested in the process on one side or the other and might as well be voting for American Idol.

And that leaves out the more than 40% of potential voters who don't bother at all.

[cthulu2016]

5. Lying can be made to matter, but it will not happen on its own

http://www.democraticunderground.com/10021230980