Monday, March 28, 2016

American Elections 1 - Tips for International Followers - Where can you find the truth?

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International interest in the American election is intense, and no wonder with all the debate and discussion on policies that may influence our international relations.  However, if international readers understand the implications of what you learn about the election, you may not be so concerned about the outcome.


Here in the colonies, if you are a citizen of the Midwestern United States, the Rust Belt around the Great Lakes, the South or Southwest, and even the Pacific Northwest, the odds are you are not paying much attention to the current presidential election.

In this day and age of constant 24-7 bombardment of the mind by the television news channels and the Internet news sources (???) most folks in those regions of the nation long ago learned to ignore the media and senseless babble spewing forth from the media.


Now do not get confused, these people are very aware.  Yes, they follow the actions of government and politicians in the American scene.  However, when it comes to politicians running for office, and news media coverage of said events, well that is quite another story.

The truth is the majority of people in the USA long ago turned off the television news and stopped reading the newspapers recognizing that journalism lost it's way and is corrupted.  Since the news media will never tell you the truth, ask yourself why very few cable news or commentary shows get over three million viewers, and TV network news shows only get six to eight million viewers.


There are 322 million people in America and less than 10%, below thirty million, watch the nightly network and cable news.  Newspaper readers are but a fraction of the television viewers.  So to understand politics and election coverage by the media in America first understand that ninety percent of all Americans refuse to watch the same television seen by all international viewers.

Long ago people realized our news media stopped being a reliable source of news in America.  Unfortunately, television and the Internet are the only sources for the world to get news on America, and neither one is considered a reliable news source by the vast majority of Americans.



One last note on the reliability of elections, I have been directly involved in thirty-two campaigns over the years and most polls in America are biased.  The easiest thing in the world is to manipulate a poll to give you the results you seek so the special interest behind the poll can control the results they will discover.

Typical Americans give polls little credibility as they know the polls serve a far greater purpose in generating advertising revenue for the media outlet than providing valuable information on election results.


Moreover, and the pollsters know this, no poll regarding the general election in November from the match ups of Clinton and Trump to the mood of Democrats and Republicans can be accurate as Americans do not ever start thinking about the decision until after the political conventions and after the end of summer.

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