There is already some demand for polls for the 2016 US Presidential elections, so I thought I would bring the discussion out in the open for how to set up polls in this site for 2016.
2012 polls
As a reminder, for 2012, we had set up 4 presidential polls using different Election Methods + 1 poll on the issues:
2016 polls previously set up
Since we are starting very early for the 2016 cycle, I thought we could do something different. To start with, 2016 will be an open election, without any incumbent on either side of the 2 major parties. Nobody can say who will run in the primaries and much less who will receive the nomination.
Also, the voters on this site have a very obvious left-wing bias. So, instead of pitching Republicans (and Libertarians, etc.) against Democrats (and Greens, etc.), I thought we could have separate polls on each side of the political divide.
I had already started setting up polls for 2016, but I am still not sure about which Election Method to use and what question exactly to ask.
Two members have already voted in the following poll, but I have currently locked it because I believe the poll set-up is wrong:
The poll uses Approval Voting, but it's a wrong EM to use for this type of question. Instead, I should have used Score Voting with a range of 0~100 with a question like: "
In your opinion, what percentage chance does each of the following candidates have of defeating the Democratic presidential nominee in 2016?"
So, I have locked the above poll. We can now discuss how exactly to set it up and start a new poll accordingly.
I also had done an initial set up for the poll on the Democratic side:
I am not too happy with the question asked, but polling has not started on that poll, so it is still time to change it...
Polls to set up
So, how many polls to set up and what question to ask?
Here is a list of suggestions, with the proposed EM to use for each poll indicated in the square brackets:
- "Whom would you bet will win the Democratic nomination for the 2016 presidential election?" [Approval voting] The poll would be closed at the start of the actual Democratic primaries.
- "Whom would you bet will win the Republican nomination for the 2016 presidential election?" [Approval voting] The poll would be closed at the start of the actual Republican primaries.
- "What percentage chance do you think each of the following Democrats have to actually defeat the Republican nominee for the 2016 presidential elections?" [Score Voting 0~100]
- "What percentage chance do you think each of the following Republicans have to actually defeat the Democratic nominee for the 2016 presidential elections?" [Score Voting 0~100]
- "On the left side of the political divide, who would be your ideal candidates for the 2016 presidential elections?" [Emocracy]
- "On the right side of the political divide, who would be your ideal candidates for the 2016 presidential elections?" [Emocracy]
- "....????" [??] You may suggest other polling questions...
If you have better or more ideas, please let me know in a comment below. You may suggest a better wording for each question as well.
Candidates
Polls 1 and 3 would contain only mainstream Democrats.
Polls 2 and 4 would contain only mainstream Republicans.
Poll 5 would include Democrats, Greens and other left-wing third party potential candidates.
Poll 6 would include Republicans, Libertarians and other right-wing third party potential candidates.
For each of the above polls, you may suggest a list of names to include.
On the Democratic side, we already have:
- Joe Biden
- Hillary Clinton
- Andrew Cuomo
- Martin O'Malley
- Elizabeth Warren
Who else?
On the Republican side, we already have:
- Marco Rubio
- Jon Huntsman
- Chris Christie
- Paul Ryan
- Rick Santorum
- Mike Huckabee
- Jeb Bush
- Condoleeza Rice
Who else?
Also, for the left-wing / right wing polls, which non-mainstream or 3rd party politicians to include?
Public and member polls
As you know, there is the option to make polls either public (any anonymous visitor can vote), or private (only members can vote but everybody can see the results).
Personally, I am in favour of having only/mostly member polls. We can have one or two of the above polls public, but I am mostly interested in gauging the opinion of minguo members.
This is debatable. Which poll would you make public, and which would you keep for members only?
I am thinking to make polls 1, 2, 5 and 6 members only. Thus we can see where our community stands and how good we are of collectively guessing the nominees.
Polls 3 and 4 could be public polls...
All of the above are only suggestions at this stage. What do you think? Do you agree with my proposed polls, or would you set some differently?
Originally published: Setting up the polls for the 2016 US Presidential elections.
Tue Sep 24, 2013 at 7:25 PM PT: I have been caught up with personal issues and job related problems, so I regret that I have not been able to reply in a timely fashion to the helpful comments made.
I just stumbled into another one of Daily Kos stupid policies:
"no one can comment on diaries that are over 10 days old."
Now, I cannot post follow up comments even on my own diaries, nor reply to
comments I had not previously seen.
This is another policy / software design element that shows that DK prefers
what's new over actual quality. Even the highest quality diaries, including
timeless diaries that are as relevant and as informative today as they were
two weeks or two years ago, are as good as dead and forgotten...
This kind of silliness and stupid policies motivate me to provide a much
better alternative in terms of web site and software at the service of
progressive activists.
Tue Sep 24, 2013 at 7:29 PM PT: @3ofspades: Thanks. I'll add Cruz and Walker. However, the wikipedia article still lists Huntsman and Huckabee as being interested. I believe Rice is fairly popular on the Right, so I am inclined to keep her, just to gauge real interest.
Tue Sep 24, 2013 at 7:31 PM PT: @fcvaguy: Thanks for the wikipedia link. Silly me of not consulting it before. I'll link to it in the poll itself, for future reference. I'll include Peter King and Howard Dean. Thanks.
Tue Sep 24, 2013 at 7:32 PM PT: @Vetwife: Thanks. I'll include Rand Paul as well.