Post Axvjhp00lqVr81Hdbc by futurebird@sauropods.win
(DIR) More posts by futurebird@sauropods.win
(DIR) Post #AxvjYi5T6GAH5KUWAa by futurebird@sauropods.win
2025-09-06T13:05:43Z
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So last week I was trying to get everyone I knew to salt the "Clear Insights" poll from Cuomo. I didn't find many people on here who got the poll (it went out to people on NYC voter roles) BUT posting on my co-op message board where we complain about how long it's taking to replace the roof and the laundry room got some action.
(DIR) Post #Axvjhp00lqVr81Hdbc by futurebird@sauropods.win
2025-09-06T13:07:21Z
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At least two other people have told Cuomo they are "moderate" and their top issue is "Corrupt Lawyers"We picked "Corrupt Lawyers" as our fake write-in issue because I want this to *work* I don't want Cuomo's consultants to just dismiss our answers as people trolling the poll.So the issue needed to sound plausible but also be... just not something that anyone really cares about.The poll is still being run. So if you see it say you are "moderate" and write in "corrupt lawyers"
(DIR) Post #AxvkKGaadki1hXizxo by futurebird@sauropods.win
2025-09-06T13:14:18Z
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What is the purpose of salting a poll? It's an expression of disgust with data driven politics and the whole mentality behind it. Of course data are important to any politician and they should be responsive to what their constituents say. However, this is about applying the methods of brand marketing to politics. It's about manipulation. It has nothing to do with leadership. Remember leadership? A leader might choose to highlight an issue their constitutes didn't know about.
(DIR) Post #AxvkULCmKi1gugOJ7Y by futurebird@sauropods.win
2025-09-06T13:16:08Z
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A leader can teach, but is also always open to learning. A leader helps choose where everyone should focus to work effectively, we don't have leaders we have windsocks.
(DIR) Post #AxvlS5jSzP1eIgAiJc by BackFromTheDud@mas.to
2025-09-06T13:26:54Z
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@futurebird every day should be a learning experience.
(DIR) Post #AxvlYhUPWQb58iHTlo by futurebird@sauropods.win
2025-09-06T13:28:07Z
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Just think about "corrupt lawyers" as and issue and the imaginary person for whom, when asked "what is your top political issue" they say "Ugh! It's all the corrupt lawyers!"I sincerely believe if we just try, we can get Cuomo to believe these people exist. Because in his heart he wishes they existed. He needs them."corrupt lawyers" is just a random combination of two negative words. It could be "cracker barrel logo" or anything else.
(DIR) Post #AxvmFjm2u7yyg13EfY by futurebird@sauropods.win
2025-09-06T13:35:46Z
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@josh0 It would be more funny but I think it might risk tipping them off that it's fake. "what if they see your posts here and find out it's fake"If anyone on that campaign can find the fediverse? I'd be mildly impressed. Very mildly ... that's kind of part of the game.
(DIR) Post #Axvmc39xVdrhAfsMS0 by futurebird@sauropods.win
2025-09-06T13:39:56Z
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Part of the reason I care about polling so much is I have worked in political polling and for a moment it looked like and exciting career. I could use my skill in mathematics and data to do something powerful and positive. I love the puzzle of designing a good poll, the challenges of creating random samples. The analysis of the data. But I'm not enough of a campy Democratic cheerleader to really make a living. The next step the the career ladder was there and I couldn't take it.
(DIR) Post #Axvmseflnvj09JfnOa by futurebird@sauropods.win
2025-09-06T13:42:56Z
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I do know that with "open response" polls even a small collection of duplicate answers gets a lot of attention. Eight people mentioning "corrupt lawyers" would be enough to at least waste hours of some consultants time trying to understand what it was. The data driven campaign is run on a knife edge. They trust the stats they create too much and don't listen to their statisticians when we say "could be noise" nearly enough... which was another reason I gave up on that.
(DIR) Post #AxvmxF08g4lXyjO4Zc by superflippy@mastodon.xyz
2025-09-06T13:43:40Z
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@futurebird A friend of mine made a career out of interpreting the numbers from polls and making recommendations to candidates based on those. But he had to pick a side to do so & it eventually cost him his marriage. You chose the better path, I think.
(DIR) Post #Axvo3lnHlgALNJ3Iwq by futurebird@sauropods.win
2025-09-06T13:56:05Z
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@josh0 IDK. I think no one would know what he was even talking about. It wouldn't make anyone mad, but it wouldn't make anyone care.
(DIR) Post #AxvpT8BfkNlW1K7FtA by llewelly@sauropods.win
2025-09-06T14:11:55Z
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@futurebird in all honesty, as someone who grew up with scent range of the Great Salt Lake, even before you tried to salt it, that poll from Cuomo smelled like it was made from salt, and reeked of fish killed by thousands of kilopascals of osmotic shock. (Like every "clear insights" poll.)
(DIR) Post #Axvq1kEMoD2Jr7si1o by llewelly@sauropods.win
2025-09-06T14:18:11Z
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@futurebird prior to reaching university, I don't think I ever heard a conversation about lawyers that did not involve a "joke" of the following character:Q: what do you call a thousand lawyers dead at the bottom of the ocean?A: a good startI don't think the combination "corrupt lawyers" is random at all. It's chosen to work with preexisting sociopolitical beliefs
(DIR) Post #Axvr2zGOVFRoirzC3k by healyn@normal.style
2025-09-06T14:29:35Z
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@futurebird lol, this is so fucking good
(DIR) Post #Axvr5mTqUE07wgbsXo by PizzaDemon@mastodon.online
2025-09-06T14:30:05Z
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@futurebird https://mastodon.online/@PizzaDemon/113587191863654943
(DIR) Post #AxvrJ8scW5nlBIZM7E by futurebird@sauropods.win
2025-09-06T14:32:32Z
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@PizzaDemon I just had the nightmare image of having all of these politicians in a kindergarten class where we'd learn things like taking turns, sharing, saying thank you, listening, stealing is wrong...
(DIR) Post #Axxb66EdpRmCGOY3AO by zagone@toot.community
2025-09-07T10:40:14Z
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@futurebird @PizzaDemon Learning such would require basic human emotions like empathy and love.