{"id":6058,"date":"2016-08-07T20:05:38","date_gmt":"2016-08-08T02:05:38","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/admin.patheos.com\/blogs\/americanbuddhist\/?p=6058"},"modified":"2016-08-07T20:05:38","modified_gmt":"2016-08-08T02:05:38","slug":"buddhist-political-preferences-reader-poll-july-aug-reporting","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/americanbuddhist\/2016\/08\/buddhist-political-preferences-reader-poll-july-aug-reporting.html","title":{"rendered":"Buddhist Political Preferences (Reader poll, July-Aug reporting)"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>

Last month I was too busy teaching, traveling, and doing a bit of meditation in China to write a report on the June-July readers survey of political preferences. In fact, I was a bit lax in publicizing the poll as well, which I think played a roll in the marked downturn in responses. With just 107 (self-selected, online, non-randomized)\u00a0<\/strong>respondents and demographics roughly matching previous months\u2019 polls, we\u2019ll jump right to the question of which candidate each respondent most supported:<\/p>\n

\"june-july<\/p>\n

Despite Clinton having the lead in pledged and super-delegates in June heading to the July convention, Sanders remained in the race. And among readers, he still had the most support, with Clinton not far behind him. This is a notable shift from the May-June poll<\/a>, where Sanders had a 58%-22% lead over Clinton.<\/p>\n

That poll mirrored in many ways the polls\u00a0going back to late\u00a0February <\/a>,\u00a0March<\/a>, and April<\/a>.<\/p>\n

When asked if their preferences had changed recently, several readers reflected on their move to Clinton:<\/p>\n

Bernie is my first choice, but if Hillary is the candidate, I will support her because at least I know what I\u2019m getting. The other candidates are frankly, unacceptable and unqualified.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Another stated:<\/p>\n

I was somewhat undecided through most of the race, since I wasn\u2019t very familiar with Sanders prior to the current election cycle. Clinton has emerged as the Democratic favorite and has run a respectable race, so I\u2019m satisfied to support her.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Finally, one wrote:<\/p>\n

I don\u2019t want to vote for Hillary unless absolutely necessary.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

One former Sanders supporter who has switched to Stein wrote, \u201cI feel as if her platform is the most compassionate of the platforms that will be on the ballot.\u201d<\/p>\n

~<\/p>\n

Moving forward to the July-August survey, which I had a little (but not much) more time to promote, we find 124 responses and our first survey without Sanders as an option.<\/p>\n

\"july-august<\/p>\n

Many moved on to Clinton, while others chose Jill Stein or the \u201cOther\u201d category (with several writing in Bernie Sanders). Gary Johnson has also made gains, here with 8.9% ahead of Trump\u2019s 6.5%.<\/p>\n

As a snapshot in time, it looks like we\u2019re witnessing a move of \u201cBuddhists for Bernie\u201d toward Clinton and Stein, with greater overall numbers going to Clinton. However, Clinton\u2019s support by readers here\u00a0is far below the 80+% that she and Sanders combined had during the primaries. That said, readers here offer Clinton greater support than the Christian\u00a0religious groups polled this week by ABC news<\/a> (Catholics there being the only group favoring Clinton [51-45%]).<\/p>\n

Looking again at some of the responses for people supporting\u00a0Clinton:<\/p>\n

Lesser of two evils<\/p>\n

Cannot let Trump win\u2026.strategy voting<\/p>\n

She\u2019s not Donald Trump and she\u2019s extremely qualified.<\/p>\n

I supported Bernie Sanders but now Hillary Clinton is the only real chance for defeating Donald Trump.<\/p>\n

Voting for her most beneficial for advancement of my political goals given the alternatives.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

A supporter of\u00a0Stein wrote:<\/p>\n

I cannot vote for Hillary as she has a clear track record of violence and dishonesty. Jill is the only candidate that is right on economics, as was Bernie, and I believe that is the most important issue, as economic inequality and suffering contributes tremendously to so many people.
\nJill, like Bernie, also has a clear track record of standing up for racial equality, when other candidates words of support directly contradict their actions.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

and:<\/p>\n

Her platform is primarily the same as the platform I was supporting with Sanders before he switched sides.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

And one other wrote:<\/p>\n

Because I\u2019m sick of voting for the lesser of two evils.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

A supporter of Johnson writes, \u201cTrump lacks the temperament and moral fiber to be President. \u00a0Clinton is too much of a polished politician that I\u2019ve never felt I\u2019ve been able to see beyond her mask. \u00a0Johnson, at least, comes across as the most genuine, authentic human of the candidates.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

There was one write-in for\u00a0Gloria La Riva, PSL, the socialist candidate<\/a>. Another wrote in Alyson Kennedy, of the Socialist Workers Party<\/a>. If there are five write-ins in the future and I\u2019ll add her to the poll.<\/p>\n

Read more:<\/p>\n

NYTimes, June 20, 2016: \u201cWhat\u2019s the matter with polling?<\/a>\u201d<\/p>\n

A slightly altered type\/school question includes Jodo Shinshu before\u00a0Pure Land.<\/p>\n

\"july-august<\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Last month I was too busy teaching, traveling, and doing a bit of meditation in China to write a report on the June-July readers survey of political preferences. In fact, I was a bit lax in publicizing the poll as well, which I think played a roll in the marked downturn in responses. With just […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":118,"featured_media":6034,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9,27],"tags":[526],"class_list":["post-6058","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-american-buddhism","category-politics","tag-politics"],"yoast_head":"\nBuddhist Political Preferences (Reader poll, July-Aug reporting)<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Last month I was too busy teaching, traveling, and doing a bit of meditation in China to write a report on the June-July readers survey of political\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/americanbuddhist\/2016\/08\/buddhist-political-preferences-reader-poll-july-aug-reporting.html\" \/>\n<meta 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