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Christian Grantham was a student activist in the late 90s and later was a consultant to domestic policy forums for the Clinton Administration as well as events for HRC and GLAAD.
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October 26, 2004

How else could people justify voting for the President, unless they did not know any better?

That, at least, is the hypothesis behind a story in today's New York Times 'voter guide', which says:

Only about half the respondents could typically identify which candidate took which position. As a result, the respondents actually agreed with President Bush more than they realized on three issues (eliminating the estate tax, making recent tax cuts permanent and allowing workers to reinvest some of their Social Security contributions in the stock market).

The respondents agreed with Senator John Kerry more than they realized on the five other issues (abortion rights, eliminating tax breaks for overseas profits of American companies, allowing drugs to be imported from Canada, making it easier for labor unions to organize and easing restrictions on federal financing of stem-cell research).

A follow-up Annenberg survey right after the debates showed that on average, about 8 percent more respondents could correctly identify a candidate's position.

Finally, an explanation for flyover people being Republican that the liberal elitists on the Coasts can understand--they don't know any better!

Know Where He Stands? Guess Again [NYT]