For those who have been wondering why the Illinois senator is trailing Hillary Clinton in the polls, even though he has raised tons of money, we finally have the answer--from no less an authority than the assistant director of the Quinnipiac University Polling Institute.
The favorite among voters without a college education always wins, according to Peter Brown, who cites Howard Dean, Bill Bradley, Paul Tsongas, Gary Hart and Ted Kennedy as those who appealed to educated Democrats and lost.
The bad news for Obama is that too many of those who back him went to college, but “That's not to minimize the magnetism of Obama and his ability to bring excitement to the campaign,” Brown generously concedes.
Maybe Obama can catch up by taking dumbing-down lessons from Fred Thompson, who is making an art of it. Or better yet, he might console himself with the $34 million he has on hand and disregard pollsters who have trouble with “post hoc, ergo propter hoc,” as the college-educated might say.
Mr. Stein—
ReplyDeleteThis stuff is really provocative. I'm a Ph.D. and my wife an ABD. We joke (unhappily) that almost every candidate whose campaign sign we put in our yard loses. :-(
I'd like to quote your dandy post on my own blog, fully credited. Do you have contact info for such requests?
If the nature of my blog enters the equation, you can check it here:
http://www.agrippinaminor.com/wp/
Thanks.
--Wayne