The New York Times conducted a poll of 849 registered voters, and one of the questions was, “What is your preference for the outcome of the 2022 congressional elections?” The results: 41% of the voters want Democrats in charge, 40% want Republicans.
This made news because of a long history showing that the incumbent president’s party always loses a lot of seats in the House of Representatives in the next general election. If the poll’s numbers hold, we’re told, the Democrats might not lose their House majority in November.
Here’s the problem. We don’t vote for who we want in charge of the entire Congress. We can only choose one person for our district, not for anyone else’s, and certainly not for the entity as a whole. Thus, the Times’ question is akin to asking, “What is your preference for the outcome of the 2023 Super Bowl?” You can prefer any team you like, but they may not even be in the game next February.
In both cases, the question is meaningless.
Another recent research study says that music, news, sports, traffic, and weather are no longer the top factors in deciding which radio station to listen to. After all, each of those services is available on demand anytime you want it from lots of other sources. According to the survey, the difference maker is personalities. People want to hear other people talking about interesting things between those other elements.
It’s too bad the radio industry has spent the last two decades telling its on-air talent to shut up and play the music because nobody cares what they have to say.