Dear Obama GenerationProgressive politics, values, and perspectives

PDF of the poll

Question 41 reads:

“As you may know, a group of Muslims in the U.S. plan to build a mosque two blocks from the site in New York City where the World Trade Center used to stand. Do you favor or oppose this plan?”

Well, that’s one way to frame it. People who don’t know about the issue will hear the question and many will react with a negative attitude toward the plan as described.

For a case like this I think favor/oppose is a tricky approach to use in writing poll questions. And CNN’s doing it in a way that favors the “oppose” response. Maybe I’m crazy, but I bet a lot of people hear the phrase, “a group of Muslims in the U.S. plan to…” and think of terrorism. Negative emotions, immediate opposition.

Let’s consider a different framing. How about a yes/no?

“Should a group be allowed to build a mosque on their property if it would be located two blocks from where the World Trade Center used to stand in New York City?”

It may be positively loaded with “on their property” but it’s better than unnecessarily evoking subconscious fear in people and then trying to measure their opinion. Increased fear correlates to an increased conservative response. Lots of research backs this up. If you make people think about scary things and then ask them a question, they’ll give you a more conservative answer than if you made them think about something neutral. It’s certainly easier to give a “yes” response to the above than a “favor” response to CNN’s.