Letter to the Editor: Southwest Standard, Nov. 5 2004
The Nov. 5 article “Students Show Strong Support for Democrats” provides biased perspective of the recent election results. Local statistics are provided and are valuable, but do not show that students led the precincts in support of Kerry.
SMSU is within one of Springfield’s urban centers. Urban communities show a tendency to favor the Democratic Party. The CNN exit polls list the results amongst voters ages 18-29 as 45%/54% in Kerry’s favor. These same polls list the results amongst urban communities as 45%/54% in Kerry’s favor. This is a single example that shows the frailty of statistics provided without comparative context. Dr. Patrick Scott’s quotations attempted to provide some additional context, but these were imbalanced by the hint of political bias.
School is a catalyst for the liberalization of belief. However, literal liberalization can take economic, social or philosophic forms. Simplified, belief in economic freedom leads to a preference for the Republican Party, while social freedom leads to a preference for the Democratic Party.
My own liberalization is of a philosophic form that demands freedom in both areas, and I thus prefer the Libertarian Party. Scott’s statements suggest that the removal of ignorance “goes hand in hand” with the Democratic Party. This is a biased statement that suggests another possibility. The modern academic community is notorious for a preference towards the Democratic Party. Perhaps classroom indoctrination, and not liberalization, has influenced student voting behavior. Comparative context is necessary for the responsible presentation of statistics, and our students deserve responsible journalism.