A public opinion poll is like beauty. It is in the “eye of the beholder.” Show a friend a picture and say that person is “beautiful.” Depending on the preferences of your friend, there will be one of three responses.
“Yes. That person is beautiful.” “Well, not bad but probably appeals to lower quality standards.” “Obviously, that picture has been Photoshopped and altered.”
If the polling results are in line with your own views, then the results are absolutely accurate and perfectly reflect the nation. Otherwise, the people that gave answers that are not like yours are not very smart.
The further the findings are from your own opinion, then it is obvious that the polling is a fraud with the results being manufactured.
A candidate for national office recently said this: “Don’t believe the surveys, don’t believe it. Believe me, today people are spending big money on surveys, depending on who’s paying for the survey, ay siya ang lalabas na panalo diyan.”
Current official and “unofficial” surveys of president/vice president candidate preference show about 10 percent of potential voters are undecided. That means about 90 percent are “definitely” going to vote for the person of their choice despite the election being 160 days away. Maybe.
The reality (or maybe the problem) is that Philippine elections over time are becoming more like US political campaigns, using an “identity” checklist. You can see it in US opinion polling. Results are broken down in categories: Men, Women, White, Black, Hispanic, Asian, High school, College, Post Grad, urban, rural, white-collar, blue-collar.
The candidate then specifically targets an individual sub group (White male 40 years old, self-employed plumber, medium size metro area) with a specific campaign message and promise.
“What does the fisherman in Palawan want to hear?” “How can we get that state university fresh grad in Cagayan de Oro to vote for us?” “Ten percent in the NCR are Senior Citizens. What promise will it take to get their vote?”
Imagine any of these news stories on Saturday, May 7, 2022. “Since its discovery in November last year, the Omicron Covid variant has wreaked havoc on Western government plans to get their economies back to growth. The US and Europe are virtual ghost towns due to the lockdowns.” Who will you vote for?
That’s depressing. Instead, how about “The Omicron Covid variant discovered last November has proven to be “all bark and no bite.” The existing vaccines were even more effective against “Omi” and the World Health Organization recently took the world down from Pandemic Status.” Now, who will you vote for?
“In the worst incident since 2001 when a US Navy intelligence aircraft and a People’s Liberation Army Navy fighter jet collided near Hainan Island, tensions between the US and China have never been any higher. Both nations have recalled their ambassadors and effectively closed their embassies. Taiwan has put its military on the highest defense alert status.” Who will you vote for?
“With Biden’s approval rating the lowest by a wide margin of any US president since World War 2 and inflation at the highest since 1980, the Federal Reserve again raised interest rates sending the markets dramatically lower and US dollar significantly higher.” Who will you vote for?
“The negative trend for Philippine agricultural production in third quarter 2021 continues with crop weather damage and higher input costs limiting both supply and demand.” Who will you vote for? Ask us later.