A Question of No Moral Value

Y’know, the more of these I write, the more I feel like the world is just a giant Kindergarten, filled to overflowing with 5 year olds…

The famous “Moral Values” exit poll question. I was wondering what the heck that really was… for all the media play that this got, and the host of earth-shaking conclusions derived from it, they never did seem to explain what, exactly, the question was…

So here it is (from the Seattle Times article linked at the end):

In exit polls conducted by Edison Media Research and Mitofsky International, "moral values" was one of seven items in a question that asked, "Which one issue mattered most in deciding how you voted for president." The other issues were taxes, education, Iraq, terrorism, economy/jobs, and health care.

Twenty-two percent chose "moral values," followed by the economy (20 percent), terrorism (19 percent) and Iraq (15 percent), according to the polls, which surveyed more than 13,600 voters and were conducted for The Associated Press and the major television networks.

Well, ask a stupid question…. The problem with such a question is that the answers are pre-defined; it’s a classic case of framing both the question and the answer to suit some goal, apparently not one of simply gathering data. I suppose it helps the analysis – just add up the ticks next to each box, but it doesn’t tell you what’s on voter’s minds when they exit the poll… which is what was supposed to happen. Imagine you are a pro-lifer (or pro-choice) – Abortion ain’t one of the options… sorry, THAT’s not a valid election issue! In the Seattle Times article you can read what was REALLY on voters minds (Iraq of course) when the pollsters simply asked what they thought the top issue was in deciding who they would vote for.

And what the fuck does “moral values” mean anyway?! “Yes, I voted for the man I thought had the least moral values!” (hey –ife was GOOD under Slick Willie!). OF COURSE “moral values” comes out on top; it means whatever you want it to mean. Conservatives think it means forcing Democracy (well, voting for their next dictator) on Iraq, Liberals think it means leaving Iraq (fleeing like rats off a sinking ship, more like). So it's no surprise, but it’s stupid. Stupid that it was asked in the first place, and stupid that NOBODY in the media bothered to look at the question before they spewed nonsense about what it all meant.

At least somebody got it right eventually. Here’s the Seattle Times story – a quick and informative read:

http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/politics/2002088898_values12.html