From National Journal:
When it comes to policy, the political class doesn’t have a lot of faith in the public’s IQ. In the latest National Journal Political Insiders Poll, a solid majority of political operatives—59 percent—said the public didn’t "know enough about the issues facing Washington to form wise opinions about what should be done." There was a sharp partisan difference between the two parties: By more than a 2-to-1 margin, Democratic Insiders believed the public didn’t "know enough," while a slight majority of Republicans thought they did.
One reason for the skeptical attitudes of the Democrats and the relatively sanguine view of Republicans is that they reflect the outcome of the midterm elections. "The guys who just got turfed out know that the public doesn’t know enough to make these decisions and the guys who got brought in know that it does," observed University of Wisconsin political scientist Byron Shafer. "There is a heavy shadow of the 2010 elections in these numbers."
[ ... ]
But some Democratic operatives are not so sure. "Though we claim to represent ‘the people’ we are much more likely to doubt their ability to understand public policy," said one party operative who requested anonymity to speak candidly. "Republicans don’t represent the people’s interests, but have more confidence in them."
To a point. Veteran GOP pollster Fred Steeper agreed that the high percentage of Democratic Insiders who said the public doesn’t know enough to form wise opinions was a manifestation of their disappointing 2010 election results. But he noted that there was also a large share of Republican Insiders—47 percent—who didn’t think the public knew enough to form wise opinions. "They’re right to be skeptical that 2010 meant people will be supporting the whole conservative agenda in 2011," said Steeper.
Read more here.
It must be pointed out the Republican elites think slightly better of us peons than the democrats do, as 52 percent of the GOP insiders think the electorate is well informed and has a grasp of the issues. On the other hand, a mere 28 percent of the democrats polled think you are smart enough to understand the glorious communist utopia they wish to usher in. A full 71 percent think you're a moron!
This is an interesting poll, if only because it leaves no doubt whatsoever what our "betters" think of us.
Now with that said, from personal experience I can say Conservatives that I know, and interact with online, are highly involved and know the issues well. They tend to read up on the issues, and research them fully. Many of them are, in fact, schooling some elected officials.
It also seems that the average democrat voter is either oblivious to the issues, or has most of the facts wrong, but I think this is more of a function of who they choose to get their information from, than their IQ. Garbage in, garbage out, as they say.
Back to our Ruling Class, and specifically the 47 percent of the Republican Party members who think we don't "get it." These are the same people who stood by and supported "progressive" Republicans [and so-called "compassionate conservatives"] as they took us down the road to ruin. These are the people who have served as facilitators while democrats pushed their socialist agenda on us all. These are the spineless go-along, get-along, reach-across-the aisle, "useful idiots" that allowed it all to happen. Not only did these little elites fail to fight the left, in most cases they eagerly joined them!
These are the same people who continually tell us people like Mitt Romney, Mitch Daniels, Chris Christie, and other liberal democrats pretending to be Republicans are the answer to all of our woes. The same people who tell us that Sarah Palin is unelectable, and Conservatives like Jim DeMint, Michelle Bachmann, and Rand Paul, to name just a few, are dangerous and extreme!
All hail the mighty squish!
These are the same "thought leaders" that said Ronald Reagan was a loser too. This is the sort that thought running Gerald Ford, who lost to Carter in 1976, instead of Ronald Reagan, was a swell idea in 1980!
Point is, when these "thought leaders" tell you what to think, who to vote for, and so on, know many hold you in contempt, and almost all of them are wrong on the issues more than they are right.
Better to continue to inform yourself to the issues and use your own head than be swayed by the political elite.
The National Journal Political Insiders Poll is a regular survey of political operatives, strategists, campaign consultants and lobbyists in both parties. Below are the names of the Insiders who surveyed. Some you'll know, some you won't.
Democratic Political Insiders:
Jill Alper, John Anzalone, Brad Bannon, Dave Beattie, Andy Bechhoefer, Cornell Belcher, Matt Bennett, Mitchell W. Berger, Mike Berman, Stephanie Bosh, Paul Brathwaite, Donna Brazile, Mark Brewer, Ed Bruley, George Bruno, Deb Callahan, Bonnie Campbell, Bill Carrick, Guy Cecil, Martin J. Chavez, Tony Coelho, Larry Cohen, Jerry Crawford, Brendan Daly, Jeff Danielson, Peter Daou, Howard Dean, Scott DeFife, Jim Demers, Tad Devine, David Di Martino, Debbie Dingell, Monica Dixon, Patrick Dorton, Pat Dujakovich, Anita Dunn, Jeff Eller, Steve Elmendorf, Carter Eskew, Eric Eve, Vic Fazio, Peter Fenn, Scott Ferson, Jim Fleischmann, Tina Flournoy, Don Foley, Jeffrey Forbes, Don Fowler, Vincent Frillici, Gina Glantz, Niles Godes, John Michael Gonzalez, Joe Grandmaison, Anna Greenberg, Stan Greenberg, Pat Griffin, Larry Grisolano, Michael Gronstal, Lisa Grove, Marcia Hale, Jill Hanauer, Dick Harpootlian, Paul Harstad, Laura Hartigan, Doug Hattaway, Mike Henry, Karen Hicks, Leo Hindery Jr., Harold Ickes, Marcus Jadotte, John Jameson, Steve Jarding, Jonathon Jones, Jim Jordan, Gale Kaufman, Lisa Kountoupes, Kam Kuwata, Celinda Lake, David Lang, Penny Lee, Chris Lehane, Jeff Link, Bill Lynch, Bob Maloney, Steve Marchand, Jim Margolis, Paul Maslin, Keith Mason, Susan McCue, Gerald McEntee, Tom McMahon, Phil McNamara, David Medina, Michael Meehan, Mark Mellman, John Merrigan, Steve Murphy, Janet Napolitano, David Nassar, Marcia Nichols, John Norris, Tom Ochs, Tom O’Donnell, Scott Parven, Jeffrey Peck, Debora Pignatelli, Tony Podesta, Jack Quinn, Larry Rasky, Mame Reiley, Steve Ricchetti, Will Robinson, Steve Rosenthal, David Rudd, John Ryan, Michael Sargeant, Stephanie Schriock, Wendy Sherman, Terry Shumaker, Sean Sinclair, Phil Singer, Erik Smith, Doug Sosnik, Greg Speed, Darry Sragow, Ken Strasma, Katrina Swett Sarah, Swisher, Doug Thornell, Jeffrey Trammell, Ed Turlington, Rick Wiener, James Williams, JoDee Winterhof, Brian Wolff, Jon Youngdahl, and Jim Zogby.
GOP Political Insiders:
Dan Allen, Stan Anderson, Gary Andres, Saulius (Saul) Anuzis, Rich Ashooh, Whit Ayres, Brett Bader, Mitch Bainwol, Gary Bauer, David Beckwith, Paul Bennecke, Clark Benson, Wayne Berman, Brian Bieron, Charlie Black, Kirk Blalock, Carmine Boal, Jeff Boeyink, Ron Bonjean, Jeff Buley, Luke Byars, Nick Calio, Al Cardenas, Danny Carroll, Ron Christie, Jim Cicconi, Rob Collins, Cesar Conda, Jake Corman, Scott Cottington, Greg Crist, Diane Crookham-Johnson, Fergus Cullen, Tom Davis, Mike Dennehy, Ken Duberstein, Steve Duprey, Debi Durham, Sara Fagen, Frank Fahrenkopf, John Feehery, Don Fierce, Mindy Finn, Mindy Fletcher, Carl Forti, Alex Gage, Bruce A. Gates, Sam Geduldig, Adam Geller, Benjamin Ginsberg, David Girard-diCarlo, Bill Greener, Jonathan Grella, Lanny Griffith, Janet Mullins Grissom, Doug Gross, Todd Harris, Steve Hart, Christopher Healy, Ralph Hellmann, Chris Henick, Terry Holt, David Iannelli, Barry Jackson, Clark Judge, David Keating, David Kensinger, Bruce Keough, Bob Kjellander, Ed Kutler, Chris LaCivita, Jim Lake, George S. LeMieux, Steve Lombardo, Kevin Madden, Joel Maiola, Gary Maloney, David Marin, Mary Matalin, Dan Mattoon, Brian McCormack, Mark McKinnon, Kyle McSlarrow, Ken Mehlman, Jim Merrill, Lisa Camooso Miller, Tim Morrison, Mike Murphy, Phil Musser, Ron Nehring, Terry Nelson, Neil Newhouse, David Norcross, Ziad Ojakli, Jack Oliver, Todd Olsen, Connie Partoyan, Dana Perino, Billy Piper, Van B. Poole, Tom Rath, Scott Reed, David Rehr, Tom Reynolds, Steve Roberts, Jason Roe, David Roederer, Dan Schnur, Russ Schriefer, Rich Schwarm, Brent Seaborn, Rick Shelby, Andrew Shore, Kevin Shuvalov, Don Sipple, Ken Spain, Fred Steeper, Bob Stevenson, Eric Tanenblatt, Richard Temple, Heath Thompson, Jay Timmons, Warren Tompkins, Ted Van Der Meid, Dirk van Dongen, Jan van Lohuizen, Stewart Verdery, Dick Wadhams, John Weaver, Lezlee Westine, Tom Wilson, Dave Winston, Ginny Wolfe, and Fred Wszolek.
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