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David M. Rubin's avatar

Given all the problems with accurate polling of the Republican Refuseniks about whom you are writing, why should we believe more polls making the claim that 80% of them think Biden stole the election? What polling methods were used to reach these people? How do we know that their responses to the question about election fraud don't simply reflect their anger that Biden did, in fact, win--- which they know, but won't admit? Isn't it more comforting for them to tell a pollster that Biden won through fraud?

In short, I no longer know what the 74 million people who voted for Trump really believe about the election, or Biden, EXCEPT the following: Some of them are strongly opposed to abortion; some of them are strongly wedded to their guns; some of them believe religion is under assault; some of them are white supremacists of varying intensity; and some of them just want more tax cuts. That is what "binds" them together as a party. Democrats will never reach them unless and until they confront these issues.

David Rubin

Summerville, SC

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David M. Rubin's avatar

Mr. Morris:

In choosing to highlight the poll number that 80% or so of Republicans think Biden won the election through fraudulent means, you have made a journalistic judgment that this poll number actually means something. That it is newsworthy. What is that?

Do think it means that these Republicans will not vote in the Georgia runoff or in the 2022 elections? If they choose not to participate, should we care?

If they choose to continue participating in elections, isn't that a good thing? Sure. But is it newsworthy? No.

Are you suggesting this group is capable of engaging in violence against the government or fellow citizens who do not support Trump ideology? If so, there is slight evidence of it. Much has been made (as it should) of the planned Michigan kidnapping and assassination of the governor, but all the Trump threats about violence surrounding the election turned out, like Trump, to be hollow. He didn't try to cancel the election in advance. He didn't send troops or police to polling places. The Proud Boys didn't intimidate voters. There were no riots of consequence following the election results.

In short, I can see no useful meaning in this 80 percent figure. A number by itself means nothing. You owe it to your readers to grapple with the real implications of this number, unless you think they are fleeting, or illusory, in which case you ought not bother to write about such a number.

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