Who would Santa Claus vote for? The polarization of politics
Who would Santa Claus vote for? The polarization of politics
Just before Christmas 1998, a Fox News/Opinion Dynamics poll of U.S. voters found that 9 per cent thought Santa Claus would consider himself a Democrat and just 6 per cent a Republican. The vast majority – 62 per cent – believed he would be an independent. It was a time where little love was lost between the parties, as Congress prepared to impeach President Clinton over the Monica Lewinsky scandal, a political feud which divided the nation largely on party lines. With both sides hurling lurid charges back and forth, few people thought that Santa would identify with the antics of either party. Move forward to December 2015, when YouGov asked a similar question, and things had changed. Now more Americans thought Santa would pick a party, with 23 per cent saying Santa would be a Democrat, 13 per cent a Republican. The share saying Santa would be an independent had dropped 20 points to 46 per cent. Santa, it seems, has joined the political fray
Jennings, Will
2ab3f11c-eb7f-44c6-9ef2-3180c1a954f7
8 September 2016
Jennings, Will
2ab3f11c-eb7f-44c6-9ef2-3180c1a954f7
Jennings, Will
(2016)
Who would Santa Claus vote for? The polarization of politics.
In,
Cowley, Philip and Ford, Robert
(eds.)
More Sex, Lies and the Ballot Box: Another Fifty Things You Need to Know About British Elections.
London, GB.
Biteback.
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Book Section
Abstract
Just before Christmas 1998, a Fox News/Opinion Dynamics poll of U.S. voters found that 9 per cent thought Santa Claus would consider himself a Democrat and just 6 per cent a Republican. The vast majority – 62 per cent – believed he would be an independent. It was a time where little love was lost between the parties, as Congress prepared to impeach President Clinton over the Monica Lewinsky scandal, a political feud which divided the nation largely on party lines. With both sides hurling lurid charges back and forth, few people thought that Santa would identify with the antics of either party. Move forward to December 2015, when YouGov asked a similar question, and things had changed. Now more Americans thought Santa would pick a party, with 23 per cent saying Santa would be a Democrat, 13 per cent a Republican. The share saying Santa would be an independent had dropped 20 points to 46 per cent. Santa, it seems, has joined the political fray
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Published date: 8 September 2016
Organisations:
Politics & International Relations
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Local EPrints ID: 396789
URI: http://eprints.soton.ac.uk/id/eprint/396789
PURE UUID: 08f9288a-8155-4556-af14-f2010009a344
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Date deposited: 13 Jun 2016 10:32
Last modified: 12 Dec 2021 03:53
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Contributors
Editor:
Philip Cowley
Editor:
Robert Ford
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