Voter prejudices in the US and France
Way back I posted on demographics Americans would not vote for, judging by polling evidence, with the most salient bit this:
"4% would not vote for a woman and 3% would not vote for an African American. However, some prejudices are clearly more palatable - 14% would not vote for a 72 year old (as McCain will be in '08) and 14% would not vote for a Mormon".
I have just laid hands on a broadly comparable French poll from earlier this year:
13% admit that they would be discouraged from voting for a Jew, 22% for a homosexual, and 38% for a Muslim.
And further oddities: 16% would prefer the next president to be male, 21% to be female, and over half want their president to be in his or her 50s. Rather amusingly 21% of right inclined voters consider sang froid a key presidential skill compared to 16% of lefties, and being multilingual is a plus for 54%, versus the 44% who are not bothered.
Combining some of those and sundry other characteristics, robocandidate would walk it if he or she was the following: in his / her 50s, able to understand daily life, honest, a listener, polyglot, a degree holder, Catholic, married and has the same standard of living as the Gaul dans la rue.
So, are Americans less prejudiced than the French, or more wary of what they say to pollsters?
"4% would not vote for a woman and 3% would not vote for an African American. However, some prejudices are clearly more palatable - 14% would not vote for a 72 year old (as McCain will be in '08) and 14% would not vote for a Mormon".
I have just laid hands on a broadly comparable French poll from earlier this year:
13% admit that they would be discouraged from voting for a Jew, 22% for a homosexual, and 38% for a Muslim.
And further oddities: 16% would prefer the next president to be male, 21% to be female, and over half want their president to be in his or her 50s. Rather amusingly 21% of right inclined voters consider sang froid a key presidential skill compared to 16% of lefties, and being multilingual is a plus for 54%, versus the 44% who are not bothered.
Combining some of those and sundry other characteristics, robocandidate would walk it if he or she was the following: in his / her 50s, able to understand daily life, honest, a listener, polyglot, a degree holder, Catholic, married and has the same standard of living as the Gaul dans la rue.
So, are Americans less prejudiced than the French, or more wary of what they say to pollsters?
Labels: France, opinion polls, United States
This entry was posted
on Tuesday, April 17, 2007 at 12:39 pm.
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I wonder why so many French wouldn't vote for a Jew. My prejudice would make me more inclined to vote for a Jew - as long as they were conservative/capitalist - as they are often smarter.
There was a one per cent more likely to vote for a Jewish candidate. Given that there was a big fat zero for those more likely to vote for a Muslim candidate and their respective numbers in France, it seems unlikely that it was French Jewry lining up for its own.
Another one I've just spotted is that one per cent are *more* likely to vote for someone who has had extra-marital affairs, although 17% would be discouraged.
At the time of Kennedy vs Nixon, the polls suggested that Kennedy won more than he lost on religious bigotry. That narrowed the gap enough for his father's dollars to buy him Texas and Illinois, and thus the Presidency. Whereafter he, and then his brother, were murdered. Which only goes to show.
Yes, but Teddy goes staggering on.
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