http://hotair.com/archives/2015/01/14/a-misreading-of-the-new-pew-poll-has-the-left-convinced-of-their-moral-superiority/A misreading of the new Pew poll has the left convinced of their moral superiority
posted at 5:21 pm on January 14, 2015 by Noah Rothman
Lately, the left has been relatively short on fodder for their favored pastime: Casting aspersions on those who do not share their political values and reassuring themselves of their moral superiority. This condition has led to the grasping of straws, and Pew Research Center helpfully provided a few fibers onto which a familiar cast of liberals clumsily glommed.
“Do you personally hope the United States will elect a female president in your lifetime, or does that not matter to you?” Pew recently asked 1,000 respondents over the course of two polls in November.
The responses were interesting. Among Democrats, 46 percent of men and 69 percent of women said that they did hope to see a woman president in their lifetimes. Among independents, 32 percent of men and 45 percent of women agreed. Republicans, however, were less enthusiastic about the prospect. Only 20 percent of self-described Republican women and 16 percent of GOP-leaning men said they hoped to see a woman president before they shuffled off.
The left pounced on these results, completely disregarded the “does that not matter to you” part of the question, and determined that Republicans were not merely indifferent toward but opposed to a woman ascending to the presidency.
“84% of Republican men don’t want the US to elect a female president in their lifetime,” Mic.com editor Joel Pavelski proclaimed.
“WUT: 84% of Republican men have no interest in seeing a woman president in their lifetime. NO, FOR REAL, WHAT?!” read an insufferably childish tweet from the pro-choice advocacy group Emily’s List.
“There are two main possibilities here,” Daily Kos analyst Laura Clawson theorized. “Republican voters are just as sexist as their party leaders or that’s just how terrifying Hillary Clinton is.”
Even some seasoned polling analysts speculated that the strikingly low number of Republicans who “hope” to see a woman in the Oval Office was the result of the fact that Hillary Clinton is their likely frame of reference (a possibility Pew addressed). But even that exposes a judgment call. The claim, that Republicans are opposed to a woman in the Oval Office, is not one supported by this poll.
The left’s reaction to this survey is completely inexcusable, in part because it reflects either a complete lack of reading comprehension or just simple laziness. “For their part, Republicans are not necessarily more likely to favor men in [leadership positions], but they are more inclined to say there isn’t any difference between men and women,” the Pew write up read. “38% of all adults say they hope the U.S. will elect a female president in their lifetime; 57% say it doesn’t matter to them.”
It’s right there in black and white; a majority of Republicans join the majority of respondents who say that gender is not a factor in how they vote. But, for some, an opportunity to indulge in a bit of condescension was apparently just too good to pass up.
Steeped as they are in identity politics, It is simply impossible for too many on the left to comprehend the fact that Republicans may be more interested in the aptitude and policy prescriptions of prospective presidential candidates than they are in their accidents of birth. Those liberals engaged in a bout of undeserved self-congratulations should think twice before doing so in public. Not only are they exposing their inability to comprehend text, but they are also revealing their prejudices. For too many, gender and skin color rather than ability is of paramount concern. We used to call that bigotry.
