A Tale of Two Polls: After ABC News Demonizes DeSantis Over Parental Rights Bill, Florida Voters Show Support

AP Photo/John Raoux

The latest poll counters the narrative as the press lies about the new Florida legislation, and continues to show their waning influence.

First off, taking polling results seriously is a fool’s errand, as these tools of the press have not only been shown to be deeply inaccurate but the methodology behind them is frequently suspect. However, given the reliance on these fraudulent headline-making devices, when these polls defy the very narrative the press attempts to craft, the result needs to be pointed out. The latest rake-stepping comes out of the persistent lying made by news outlets on Florida’s parental rights bill.

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ABC News, over the weekend, came out with its own Ipsos-partnered polling on the Florida bill that recently passed the state legislature. The news network was not holding back on what it read into the returns, declaring “The results show lopsided disapproval for laws like the one that recently passed in Florida that limits what elementary school classrooms can teach about sexual orientation and gender identity.

ABC News also notes, “The poll found stronger support among Republicans.” 

You do not need a Master’s Degree in Statistical Analysis in order to find the issues with this poll. First off, how many of the respondents have actually read the language of the bill, compared to those who have been swayed by the weeks of media outlets wrongfully calling this the ‘Don’t Say Gay Bill’?! Next, the question was also framed in this fashion, further pushing respondents towards a result: On another topic, would you support or oppose legislation that would prohibit classroom lessons about sexual orientation or gender identity in elementary school?

This is a departure from the actual language of the bill — something the network provides deep in its article but not in the question — which stipulates that this is only limiting particular topics which might be deemed age-inappropriate for the very youngest of students. The bill covers sexual topics and gender identity issues for the Kindergarten through 3rd grades. But there is an even bigger issue slanting this poll. Look at this detail given at the bottom of its piece:

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This ABC News/Ipsos poll was conducted using Ipsos Public Affairs‘ KnowledgePanel® March 11-12, 2022, in English and Spanish, among a random national sample of 622 adults with an oversample of LGBTQ+ respondents.

This is how you drive a poll to get the number you want, thereby buttressing your narrative. What is left off the table is how this does not address those affected by or calling for the new legislation, namely Floridians, and parents with young school children. Tellingly, and with rather amusing timing, another poll arrives that is both more centrally located to the affected gentry and deeply revealing via its operators.

Here are the factors that make the displayed DeSantis support all the more glaring. Dade County is a heavily blue area. Next, the poll was conducted by Fernand Amandi, a Democratic Party advisor who hails from the Obama administration and is a frequent guest on the reliably slanted MSNBC. (Amandi recently declared it a Defcon-1 moment, when a Spanish-language conservative network began.) For a noted leftist to poll in a historically liberal enclave and come up with this kind of backing for Ron DeSantis means that if there is a margin of error, it is likely to increase his level of support.

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Now factor in that Dade County has a tremendous Hispanic population and you get more evidence of that party losing its grip on that electorate. These are results that point more to the glaring issue of the media losing its level of influence on the populace. After weeks of selling us this fable that a new law is preventing all people from saying the word “gay” and resorting to hysterics to paint a politician as an intolerant ogre, they become exposed by their own game. 

One laughably rigged poll is used to “prove” their point, while another poll conducted by one of their own delivers what has to be a chilling result. Maybe the best thing we can see from these data points is that they continue to refuse to see the light.

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