EXCLUSIVE NEW POLLS!!
Much to do in '22...
Two new polls to tell you about on this otherwise slow news morning.
According to the WWoN-Precision survey of my readers:
* 56% of you want the newsletter to be shorter, while 65% of you want it to be longer.
* 74% think there are too many jokes and pop culture references, with a full 24% saying the amount of those elements is just right; 1% say “not enough.”
* 50% want more Ron Klain memos, 50% want fewer, and 23% say the number is about right.
* A robust 95% agree that the millionaires and billionaires who read the newsletter daily should become voluntary paid subscribers or contributors, while 5% do not (according to the crosstabs, the average annual income of those in the 5% is above $4 million).
We will have more from this exclusive poll over the new few days.
For now, please consider supporting this daily newsletter at less than $1/day by becoming a paid subscriber:
Or, if you want to give the amount of your choice to show your backing for this independent journalism, send an email to markhalperintalk@gmail.com and ask how you can contribute.
****
The other fresh poll is from the Washington Post and it is all about attitudes related to 1/6.
Spoiler alert: We all have some work to do to make this anniversary one of unity and not division.
Here is one set of findings, that should be read with The Presumption of Grace by Blues and Reds alike:
About 7 in 10 Americans say Biden’s election as president was legitimate, but that leaves almost 3 in 10 who say it was not, including 58 percent of Republicans and 27 percent of independents. The 58 percent of Republicans who say Biden was not legitimately elected as president is down somewhat from 70 percent in a January Post-ABC poll shortly after the Capitol attack.
Among those who say they voted for Trump in 2020, 69 percent now say Biden was not legitimately elected, while 97 percent of Biden voters say the current president was legitimately elected.
Republicans’ rejection of Biden’s victory is not novel. In a fall 2017 Post-UMD poll, 67 percent of Democrats and 69 percent of Hillary Clinton voters said Trump was not legitimately elected president.
Essential read: The Associated Press on a town in Virginia (or, at least, a coffee shop in said town) that is pushing for unity above division.
****
The Wall Street Journal has a news story that is pretty bullish on school reopenings…
….and/but the AJC says:
Atlanta Public Schools announced Saturday that it will conduct classes remotely next week due the surge of coronavirus cases in the metro area.
The announcement follows moves by school districts in Clayton, DeKalb, Fulton and Rockdale counties to push back the return to in-person classes due to high COVID-19 infection rates throughout the state.
…and/but/and the AP says:
With COVID-19 cases surging just as students are about to return from winter break, dozens of U.S. colleges are moving classes online again for at least the first week or so of the semester — and some warn it could stretch longer if the wave of infection doesn’t subside soon.
****
There are plenty of people on Team Biden who would like to see additional government restrictions to try to get the pandemic more under control. But the political and polling folks know such moves would likely be as effective as the fireworks ban in Naples, Italy.
Many of the good people of Naples, FL are no more interested in the dictates of the government than their Euro counterparts are.
And that is a problem that will play out in January — and beyond.
****
Macca Year-in-Review:
…and he plays with some new filters:
****
To those who asked: I know Ben Shapiro is not a medical doctor. I should have done a better job of setting up why I was quoting his tweets in Saturday’s edition.
As I mutter to myself each morning as I type: There’s much to do in ’22.