Mollie Hemingway calls it the poll question “that makes me want to punch someone:”
Who would you rather take care of you when you are sick? Obama 49%, Romney 33% in new WaPo-ABC poll.
I call it the poll question that makes me sick.
When Ben Franklin said to the lady in Philly that the Founding Fathers had given us "a republic, if you can keep it," he never dreamed that political discourse could sink so low.
Only in an era of debased politics would a major metropolitan daily and one of the three top non-cable networks team up to ask such a stupid question. This is an especially moronic question given the dire state of our national coffers.
A Ricochet respondent named “DrewInWisconsin” explains why nobody should have answered this question:
I don't know if this sort of question was common prior to the 90s, but they certainly began showing up in earnest during the Clinton years. Seemed like almost every poll back then had a question about which candidate was the most "caring."
It's a bit of a trap, because if you respond like I often did, that it's not an elected official's job to "care" for me, that makes it sound like I want a candidate who (or that the candidate I favor) is "uncaring."
In fact, I'd rather that the government leave the "caring" up to family and other loved ones.
These poll questions need to be called out for their attempt at emotional manipulation (so I thank you for doing exactly that).
This question is clearly designed to go to the so-called likeability question, which the media has been peddling nonstop.
Still, I find it odd that Romney, who lived in a house with five boys and whose wife has had serious health problems, wasn't the winner. (So I guess I've just answered the dumbest poll question ever asked!)