The 27% Crazification Factor Again
New link from Steve Bennen at Eschaton reminds us of Robert Waldmann’s post from 2014:
The 27% Crazification Factor Again
Robert Waldmann | January 27, 2014
It’s that number again. As noted by Dylan Scott at TPM, according to the latest Pew poll 27% of US adults think that the Republican party “is more willing to work with the other party” than the Democratic party.For earlier appearances of 27% see Kung Fu Monkey
John: Hey, Bush is now at 37% approval. I feel much less like Kevin McCarthy screaming in traffic. But I wonder what his base is –Tyrone: 27%.John: … you said that immmediately, and with some authority.Tyrone: Obama vs. Alan Keyes. Keyes was from out of state, so you can eliminate any established political base; both candidates were black, so you can factor out racism; and Keyes was plainly, obviously, completely crazy. Batshit crazy. Head-trauma crazy. But 27% of the population of Illinois voted for him. They put party identification, personal prejudice, whatever ahead of rational judgement. Hell, even like 5% of Democrats voted for him. That’s crazy behaviour. I think you have to assume a 27% Crazification Factor in any population.
When you consider the very worst legislation of the past 25 years for working people, from NAFTA to the Glass-Steagall repeal, to the Patriot Act, to the Iraq War vote, to the TARP were bipartisan in nature, it should be conceded that it is when the two parties agree on an issue that you should really grab hold of your wallet.