What factors influence political attitudes?

Political Socialization What are your ideas on the most important factors in political socialization?

Factors Family Gender Married-single Religion Education Social class Race and ethnicity Geographic region

How do political parties know what issues to address? How do they know public opinion?

Political Polling Welcome to the exciting world of the pollsters!

Polling Pre-assessment 1. How can poll results change the way individual people think or behave? 2. What are three ways data from polls can impact a political campaign?

Types of Polls Favorability- Issue-

Terms to know Results from a Pew poll show that Romney currently has a 1% lead on Obama, which is within the margin of error. Margin of error- Random sampling-

Polling Bias Types Testimonial- implied endorsement of celebrity Did you know that Brad Pitt thinks Barack Obama will be a good choice in 2012? Who will you vote for in the 2012 election?

How do campaigns use polls? In groups of 3 or 4, please act as campaign manager and use the poll data supplied to construct a campaign plan for your candidate. Which districts would you concentrate on, which would you avoid?

Mudslinging- Name- calling or groundless assertions about another candidate. Do you favor the economic policies of the Republicans which will lead to greater prosperity for all, or the policies of the Democrats which are destroying our free- market system?

Transfer- Use of popular symbols or causes to create a positive connotation for a candidate or the use of negative or controversial symbols and causes to create a negative connotation. Knowing that Arizona has one of the fastest growing populations of illegal immigrants in the U.S., do you favor a voter i.d. policy?

Card-stacking- Use of statistics in a one-sided manner; the omission of information that is crucial to drawing an informed decision. Democratic television ads showing former teachers and administrators listing the failures of Republican Chris Christie in education. What the ads do not show is the reasoning behind his decisions and the fact that the teachers and administrators are disgruntled Democrats who lost appointed jobs under the new administration.

Glittering generalities- Use of vague words or phrases that may have a positive affect on the viewer and appeal to a variety of interests. Do you believe we need a Washington insider or a fresh new face to lead our country through the next four years?

Contrast question or Sandwich question- juxtaposing positive images of one’s candidate with negative images of the competition’s candidate. Barack Obama supports the rights of all people in the U.S., not just the rich. Do you believe Romney who shipped American jobs overseas, or Obama who is fighting for the needs of all Americans, would make a better president?

In groups of 3 or 4, please act as campaign manager and use the poll data supplied to construct a campaign plan for your candidate. Which districts would you concentrate on, which would you avoid? When you are done, please go to the Gallup website and explore at least one favorability and one issue poll. Cite the poll and discuss the insights that provide.