

Disrupting New Domains - sethbannon
http://sethbannon.com/disrupting-new-domains

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akurtzhs
_It was so uncontroversial that nearly 90% of the American public supported
the reform, including 85% of gun owners._

I keep on seeing this number quoted, but looking at the survey it looks like
it was limited to Florida, Connecticut, Ohio, Pennsylvania, New Jersey and
Virginia. I wonder how the question would go in Texas, for example. Is there a
standard definition of a national poll?

I do appreciate Seth linking to the poll's press release. If anyone's
interested, the poll data is available at
[http://www.quinnipiac.edu/institutes--centers/polling-
instit...](http://www.quinnipiac.edu/institutes--centers/polling-
institute/new-jersey/release-detail?ReleaseID=1842)

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gyardley
_Whatever your views are on gun control, it's hard to see yesterday's events
as anything but an example of an entrenched political interest using its power
(money, exclusive relationships, incumbency) to maintain the status quo..._

Nonsense. Yesterday was how things are _supposed_ to work, when a small
minority cares passionately about an issue in the face of a lukewarm majority.

The politicians involved realized that this was a 'time to organize to throw
the bum out' voting issue for the portion of the population against it, while
the larger portion of the population that was tepidly for it will end up
basing their votes on other issues. They therefore made the correct call.

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coderzach
Could you provide proof that this is a lukewarm majority?

~~~
gyardley
I don't think there's such a thing as 'proof' in politics, really - so God
knows if I'm right. (I also don't think I need to provide any here - Wikipedia
this isn't.)

But since I live in Texas and I'm a life member of the NRA, I do know a lot of
people who are very passionately against any form of gun control, especially
when coming from the federal government. I also trust the political instincts
of Bill Clinton, who always struck me as a sharp politician:

[http://www.outsidethebeltway.com/bill-clinton-warns-
democrat...](http://www.outsidethebeltway.com/bill-clinton-warns-democrats-
against-overreaching-on-gun-debate/)

 _While some polls show that the public by-and-large supports several
proposals for increased gun control, Clinton said that it’s not the public
support that matters — it’s how strongly people feel about the issue._

 _“All these polls that you see saying the public is for us on all these
issues — they are meaningless if they’re not voting issues,” Clinton said._

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smoyer
I don't think this article went nearly far enough ... the reality is that we
have the technology (or could) to allow the population to vote on what laws
are passed. In theory, we could get rid of representative government
completely and truly see a nation where one person gets one vote.

If the vocal minority rallied their forces as suggested below (by gyardley),
and the tepid majority didn't, then I agree that things worked the way they're
supposed to. If you don't care enough to vote, then why should your voice be
heard? And if the majority wasn't as tepid as they appeared, then they'd
prevail.

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efremjw
Bravo!

