 Okay, we're back. We're live. I'm Jay Fidel. This is Think Tech and Community Matters on a given Tuesday. I'm here with Catherine Noor and by Zoom and we are discussing our comparison of the national conventions, a survey we did in the month of September, the first couple weeks in September. P.S., before I forget to tell you, we're not doing one in October. Why? It's because so much is happening in October that we can't keep up with it. What I mean is what's the point of asking about a survey that becomes old in no time. We'll wait a few weeks anyway to see what we're going to do about the next survey. In any event, I just want to say that comparing the national conventions also seems old right now, doesn't it? It's barely a month ago and yet the world has turned like a flapjack ever since then. Good morning, Catherine. Good morning today. How are you today? I'm good. Being with you, it's a good thing. And discussing how the world feels and trying to make sense of it, that's a good thing too, even if it's not always pleasant. So let's go through. We have 16, 18 questions here this morning. Let's get through them. The first question that was reported back on the surveys, did you watch the Democratic National Convention? Do you see the answers? How did people answer that? Well, 30% watched all of it and 43% watched some. And there were those about 17% that saw part of it on the news later and 10% did not watch any of it. Interesting. I wonder what they were thinking. Maybe they had enough already. A lot of people have had enough politics and they'd rather watch a nice movie, a good movie, a shoot-em-up movie on cable. Escapism is alive and well. Okay, let's go to question two. What did you think of the presentations made by these specific speakers at the Democratic National Convention? And it goes from Michelle Obama to Bill Clinton. Remember, it's like ancient history already. Barack Obama, remember that? Jill Biden, Kamala Harris, and Joe Biden. So why don't you give us the answers? Okay, it's pretty complicated. So I'll just kind of generally say that people really liked Michelle Obama, Barack Obama, Kamala Harris. And let's see. It looks like, yeah, they liked Joe Biden quite a bit. Most was outstanding or excellent. And Kamala Harris, most was outstanding or excellent. Jill Biden, most was outstanding or excellent. Same with Barack Obama. Bill Clinton got a lot of goods. So he was mostly good as opposed to really as good as Michelle Obama. Way behind Michelle Obama, she was the top dog, actually. Yes, she was. Barack Obama was the second top dog. The Hawaii former president and first lady were very popular. Yeah. I might add, by the way, that Michelle made another one. This is a 24-minute video, you know, letting Trump have it over coronavirus. This is just up on the web. So if you go to YouTube, you'll find it today. 24 minutes. This is probably going to exceed the value and benefit of what she said at the Democratic National Convention. Okay, now we get into, I guess, another one. What did you think of the platform policy positions expressed by these speakers at the Democratic National Convention? And the question asked about Michelle Obama, Bill Clinton, Barack Obama, Joe Biden, Kamala Harris, and Joe Biden. And the difference between this question and the last one was overall, you know, what did you think? Now the question asked, what about their platform positions, their policy, as they expressed it at the convention? What are the answers, Catherine? Well, again, it's pretty complex in terms of the numbers. I think Michelle Obama and Barack Obama again had the most outstandings. Kamala Harris and Joe Biden had quite a bit of outstandings as well. People generally really liked it. I think there were a few, you know, it seems there were some people that said poor. But again, it depends on where you come from, what perspective you are on what political leanings you have, I think. Yeah, really, because the platform positions would reflect your political leanings more than the previous question. But Michelle comes out on the top, interesting. And then looks like Barack. No, actually Kamala comes out just below her. And then Barack, and then Joe Biden and so forth, for outstanding. So I guess people really like the people who spoke. I mean, it was a well organized convention, I think, and it's reflected by the people they picked to speak and how well those people didn't speak. But clearly, so far in these questions, we find that Michelle Obama is the heroine. She's top dog, you know, throughout. Okay. All right. Next question. All in all, how did you think the Democratic National Convention went? And what were the answers, Catherine? Well, about 54% thought it was a great success. And about 18% thought it was moderate. And then there were about 7% that said it was not particularly successful. About 11% said it was a failure. And then there was other, which was about 11% as well. Yeah, that was one interesting comment, which I think is worth mentioning. And that is short on plans and policy, long on empty promises, lots of hate, which that's a really interesting comment, because that's got to be a Trumper that put that it's nice to know the Trumpers are answering our surveys. But this is clearly a, I mean, did you feel there was a lot of hate in the Democratic National Convention? I didn't feel that at all. I didn't watch it. Yeah, I was in other. Okay. Well, you probably had enough of all this political stuff. But cheer up and cheer up. It's going to get worse, Catherine. Yeah, yeah. I had other things to do, I think during those days. You go practicing law again. The next one, question five, did the Democratic National Convention change your mind on anything? That's, you already know the answer to that. What were the answers? Okay, yes. Almost 14% said that it did change their minds. No, about 72%. And I'm not sure that I did was about 3%. And other was about 10%. And on this one, when people watch a particular party, usually they align with that party. So it wouldn't change their minds. Felix Frankfurter said years ago in the 30s, when he was on the Supreme Court, and I had it on my wall in law school, one listens with what is already in one's mind. That was Felix Frankfurter. He was a wise man. And indeed, we have one of the responses is worth mentioning, quote, less likely to vote for Biden, but feel compelled to vote anti-Trump. That's interesting. But I think a lot of people who are not excited about Biden would vote for him anyway, because of what Trump is. That is another one that says, I thought they were even better than before. So that was somebody who really liked the convention. Interesting. Anyway, you said the worst of them, yes, is that people change their minds on things, but the great majority was, no, they already knew what was going to be said. I'm not sure anybody was out there taking notes on the changes. Maybe it's some of the press, but I think it was mostly to confirm that you liked them, or that you didn't, whatever the case. Okay, question six. How did you feel about the use of masks and social distancing at the Democratic National Convention? Boy, this is a question that's been overtaken by events. Is it masks and social distancing? Since the discussion around the national conventions, there's been a lot more discussion taken us far away from where we were at the time of the two conventions. Anyway, what are the answers to that question? The use of masks and social distancing was adequate, was about 79%. And the use of masks and social distancing was inadequate, was about 3%. I don't think that social distancing was, or masks and social distancing was necessary, was about 3%, and other was about 14%. Okay, and some comment responses of interest. One, how about this? Wearing masks was just for show. And you almost, you can hear the sound of this person who answered that question. What he was thinking was, hey, COVID is just a hoax, anyway. Who needs masks for hoax? Then there was another one. Using a national health crisis for political gain is obscene, and I will not comment. It's interesting also. This is like some of the comments we get on our YouTube channel, completely off the wall. Those are the ones that are of interest on that one. So I mean, what else would you do in a gathering where there were at least a certain number of people there? And you knew that masks, I mean, we all knew, we all knew at the time that masks helped prevent the infection. You'd wear a mask, wouldn't you? Well, I think that the culture on the mainland where those were held is a little different than here. I know Hawaii, we're wearing masks and social distancing very consistently, but for people on the mainland, they're not doing it as much as we are here. And, you know, certain states are not doing it as much. So there are people across the country and the world that don't are not wearing masks as much. I won't say the world. I think we have the worst record. Europe is wearing masks and Asia is wearing masks. I don't know who is not. Okay, so the next one is, oh, there's some, yeah. Okay, we covered that. Question seven. Did you think the Democratic National Convention made improper use of federal resources under the Hatch Act? Which, to recall, the Hatch Act is where you don't use federal resources and properties in aid of a political campaign. And that's been around for 50 years anyway. So what were the answers on that? Okay, yes, was 11.5%. No, was about 69% and other was about 19%. Let me see if there are any specific. Oh, there's a lot of don't knows, don't know about the issue, have no idea, didn't watch it, that sort of thing. Oh, here, here's an interesting comment. Another health crisis political gain question that I do not care for. I guess what stunts me about this is the question really was a throw away. It was like, you know, when you take a trial and you have one pill works and the other is, what do they call that second pill? Plesebo. This is a Plesebo question, because there was no suggestion whatsoever by anybody that the Democrats were using improperly using federal resources under the Hatch Act. They were perspicacious about not doing that, particularly in view of the fact it was clear that the Republicans were using national resources. So I find it interesting that some people saw, what did he say? Another health crisis political gain question that I do not care for. So we had both sides of the fence watching this for sure. This wasn't just the people who liked the Democrats. There were Republicans here and they were hanging tight. Okay, question eight. Did you watch the Republican National Convention? What were the answers there, Catherine? Okay. About 10% watched all of it. About 38% watched some of it. And about 41% saw parts of it on the news later. And actually, there's a typo here, I think, but about 3% did not watch it. And then other was about 7%. This I think reflects Hawaii because I understand that about 30% voted for Trump in 2016. And so this is similar to those percentages for Hawaii. What is very interesting, Catherine, is that the answers to this question about whether people watched the Republican National Convention were different, way different than question one, which was, as you recall, did you watch the Democratic National Convention? In that case, you didn't have so many people watch you. Well, you did. You had, what am I saying, 45% or so, 43% watched some of it on television. And a smaller percentage saw parts of it on the news later. And she was 30% watched it all. So we get down to this question we're talking about now. It's different. Let me go back to it. Yeah. So way less watched it all. More watched some of it, Mr. Republican. Way more than in the case of the Democratic Convention saw parts of it on the news later. It's different answers, a different distribution. I find that very interesting. So different sides of the coin are asking. I guess the Republicans were watching the Republican National Convention, more of them. And the Democrats were watching the Democrat Democratic National Convention and they had a different distribution about how they caught it, how they saw it. It's very interesting, isn't it? Different political parties, different persuasions have different styles of watching. It's worth mentioning, for sure. Oh, here's one comment where he says, no, or she says, no, I did not watch the Republican Convention either. So that particular person didn't watch either of them. Okay, now we get into the matrix questions. What did you think of the presentations made by these speakers at the Republican National Convention? Okay, Melania Trump, Ivanka Trump, Donald J. Trump, Mike Pence, and Donald Trump. Notice nearly all of them, except Mike Pence are in the Trump family. It's a very narrow pattern there. So what were the answers to that question? You know, the challenge, I think, is that it doesn't have a not applicable part because if they didn't watch it at all, how would they know? And I don't know for sure if the people who answered left it blank that hadn't watched it or if they just answered it based on what their attitude was. But Melania, they felt was mediocre. Ivanka, they thought was poor. Donald Jr., they thought was poor. Mike Pence, they thought that was poor or mediocre. Donald Trump, they thought it was poor. So they didn't like the presentations. Yeah, Donald Trump was, oh wow, Donald Trump was 59% poor. I'm looking at the pours now. Mike Pence was not as poor. Mike Pence was 37% poor. Donald Trump Jr., he was quite poor. He was 59% poor. Ivanka Trump, 45% poor. And Melania, only 19% poor. She did relatively well. As a matter of fact, of the category on poor, she was the least poor. The most outstanding was Donald J. Trump. No, that's not true. The most outstanding was Ivanka Trump. Don't ask me why. And then Mike Pence, oh, Donald Trump, it goes Ivanka Trump, then Donald Trump, then Mike Pence, then Melania Trump, then Donald J. Trump Jr., he was the least outstanding. Very interesting. Okay, question 10. What did you think of the platform policy positions? You know, the previous question is, did you like them? Now this question, what do you think of the platform policy positions expressed by the same speakers, as we mentioned, at the Republican National Convention? So it goes Melania, Ivanka, Donald J., Jr., Mike Pence, and Donald Trump. Again, the same people, most all of them are named Trump. So what were the answers? Well, most of them were deemed poor. Melania actually had a, there were quite a few that said mediocre. But when we're talking about these numbers here, the number that actually watched and answered in relation to that, they weren't very many. The totals were about 2021 to 25 people that answered these. And so basically Donald poor, Mike Pence predominantly poor, Donald Jr. predominantly poor, Ivanka predominantly poor, Melania seemed to do a little bit better. In terms of outstanding, Ivanka got quite a bit outstanding, but quite a bit out of poor, and Donald got quite a bit outstanding and quite a bit poor. But I would have to say poor was much greater than those who said outstanding on all of those. Yeah, right. And all of them, all of them, the biggest single category was poor. And I was thinking at first, well, maybe, you know, a lot of Democrats were answering this question, but I'm not sure that's true, because I think it's, I mean, it may be true, but I think it's what they're really telling us is that, that the speeches at the Republican National Convention were not so good that, you know, they were, they're just spending their time bashing people and making outrageous statements and, you know, doing Trump's, Trump's misinformation routine. And so I think people saw that on both sides of the fence. Okay, question 11, all in all, how did you think the Republican National Convention went? And what interest did we get on that one, Catherine? Okay, it was a great success was about 19%. It was a moderate success was about 11%. It was not particularly successful was about 26%. It was a failure was about one third. And other was 11%. We did get some individual answers. Let me, let me read them. The ones that are interesting. I just feel it does not show the care of the nation, but more for themselves, loss of the underlying human principles. That was one that's interesting. That was the takeaway from the whole convention. Okay, next one. It satisfied its core base, but I am not GOP core base and find GOP to be terribly dishonest, disingenuous, and criminally negligent. There's a guy who speaks as my old girl. And one other one to read is, I have no idea. I told you I didn't watch it either live or on the broadcast. Okay. Some people adamantly didn't watch it adamantly. Okay, question 12. Did the Republican National Convention, this is just the same as a mirror image of the questions about the Democratic National Convention. Did the Republican National Convention change your mind on anything? What were the answers there, Catherine? Okay, yes, it did change their mind. Was about 14%. No, was about 76%. I'm not sure that it did. It was about 7% and other was about 3%. See if there are any specific responses. So again, you get into people watch something and they already have a mindset. Yeah. Well, one interesting comment you'll enjoy this and said, yes, it made me even more disgusted than before. So I guess it changed his mind. There you go. All right. Okay, question 13. How did you feel about the use of masks and social distancing at the Republican National Convention? What were the answers there, Catherine? Okay. The use of masks and social distancing was adequate was 7.4%. And the use of masks and social distancing was inadequate was about 70%. And then I don't think social distancing and masks were necessary was about close to 4%. And other was about 19%. Yeah, I don't understand why the one that the use of masks and social distancing was inadequate is only 70%. I mean, Trump himself was saying, we don't need any of this. And he was encouraging people not to wear masks and they didn't. Same thing in Tulsa. So I don't know why only 70%. I would have expected a higher percentage of people who would have said that the use of masks and social distancing was inadequate. Okay, here's some more now. It was dangerous and they were all insane exclamation point. That's interesting. Next one is it was as good as all the anti Trump protesting. Fair comparison. Okay, using a national health crisis for political gain is obscene. And I will not comment. That's the same person who answered the same way for other questions. He doesn't think that masks and distancing or for that matter COVID is relevant to is a political issue at all. I wonder how he's going to vote. All right, question 14. Do you think the Republican National Convention made improper use of federal resources under that Hatch Act? What are the answers there, Catherine? Okay, about 58% said yes. 27, approximately 27% said no. And then other was about 15%. And that's assuming that they knew what the Hatch Act is. Well, here's one that's clearly didn't know. His comment was another health crisis question for political gain. So no comment. He clearly didn't know what the Hatch Act is. He treats the Hatch Act as a health crisis question. That's interesting. He doesn't know. Then we had one of interest. He said no, it was against the law. Find them. I mean, F I N E D find them and use the monies to help out our first responders exclamation point. Okay. All right, we have that's very interesting. Okay, I think we have only one more to go. And we do have a question from outside. Let me see if that's relevant. Yeah, let me let me ask that question now. Here's a question come from outside. Are you ready Catherine? Sure. From a viewer, what what do you two think of the speakers and their effects from the two conventions? Well, that's that's kind of already in the survey, but what is your response to that Catherine? Like I said, I didn't watch. I watched news part portions of the news on each later. And and I cannot reasonably provide an answer of my opinion, because I didn't watch all of them. Okay, next time we're going to put you down like Clockwork Orange and open your eyes with these clamps and make you watch. It's coming soon. I'll tell you my my response to that is what effect did they have? Well, it's the same thing is that they changed the mind of the people who answered the survey. And I think a lot of people came in with a certain mindset and left with the same mindset. But I think that, you know, in a larger sense, the the Republican convention did confirm Trump's base. I doubt he lost a lot of voters. He was he was spewing the same kind of disinformation and animosity that he does spew, even now, even back from the hospital, he hasn't changed a bit. And the Biden was talking about national national unity, which is what he does. So if I were an independent and caught in the middle, I would I would probably like unity better. Unity is a positive message. So I think if there was an effect on the national electorate, it probably favored Biden. And I and I believe that Biden's numbers were better in the polls afterward to answer that as far as we know. It would be interesting to know what the political persuasion was of the people that were answering these questions. You know, we don't want to ask them that though. Yeah, that's a little detailed and and you know, not appropriate here. But but that would be that would tell us more if we knew that. Yeah, you can only guess this way. But you know, I mean, a they may they may not answer that question accurately. Be there, they'll be slightly offended and see, I think it would it would probably threaten them as to the anonymity. You know, these answers are completely anonymous. We don't know who responded. Okay, next question 15, which convention was more persuasive? What was the answer there? Okay, the Democratic National Convention 60, almost 66%. Republican, about 17%. They were equally persuasive about 3%. And neither was per state was almost 7%. And otherwise, almost 7%. Okay, yeah. It's interesting. A couple of loose comments. One fellow says, I am bias. I judge by the doings of the person in what values meant. I'm not sure what he's saying there, but that's what he said. Another one says, I didn't watch either of the conventions and don't. Okay, question 16. What presidential ticket do you think is better suited to lead the country? What was the answer there, Catherine? Okay, the Democratic ticket was about 76%. The Republican ticket was about 24%. And I guess we'll just see what the outcome is. And then you then we'll know whether the viewers of think tech and the respondents of the survey will reflect the outcome. That would be interesting. Yeah. And this was back a month ago. So you really wonder all the things that have happened since then and will happen for sure. Strange chaotic things will happen for sure between now and the election and in the election, you know, the mechanics of the election, how that will affect the vote. But this is an interesting survey snapshot at the time that Biden was 76% and Trump was 24%. Okay, 17. Do you think the Black Lives Matter demonstrations help either candidate? What were the answers on that one, Catherine? Okay, those that thought they helped Biden were 45%. Those that they thought that they helped Trump were about 7%. And those who thought they helped both candidates were about 10%. And those who thought that they didn't help either candidate was about 28%. And other was about 10%. Okay, we had some comments here that are worth reading. One is they hurt everybody in conventions and in this country. Another one was they helped the party base of, they helped the party base of both parties. And that's interesting. And one third one worth reading is the destruction of our cities that this so-called demonstration is causing is not doing anything with destroying our cities. All right. Question 19. Do you think that either of the candidates are responsible for the violence at these demonstrations? What were the answers, Catherine? Okay, the answers were, sorry, I'm having a hard time seeing this. Basically, 7% think that Biden and Harris are responsible for the violence. 60% think Trump and Pence are responsible for the violence. And 0% think both of the candidates are responsible for the violence. 25% said neither of the candidates were responsible for the violence. Interesting. 7% thought Biden was responsible and 61% thought Trump was responsible. Okay. And this is our last question. Let me read a couple of comments here. You support that you ignore slash condone. Dems condone violence as long as it seems to help them. Republicans have not supported violence at all. I think this this person who wrote that must live on Mars. But that's just me. If not Mars, then maybe Pluto. And then as one said, why would they be responsible? Those who are violent are responsible for their own actions. That's interesting. But both questions ignore the whole dog whistle kind of effect that we have seen and has been reported over and over again over the past six months. So all right. So now it's time to close our show, Catherine. What are your final comments and summary? How do you feel about this in general, judging from the answers we have read? Well, I think those who responded are favorable to the Democratic Party and Biden and Harris ticket. And I think we'll just have to see whether the election is consistent with this survey. It could be or it may not be. We'll have to see. Yeah, very interesting, though, in our little corner of the world, which we don't know how big our corner of the world is, because these surveys actually reach the whole world. So we don't know how many people are, you know, outside of Hawaii answering these questions. But I think we have a number of viewpoints reflected in the answers. Anyway, we don't have one going on right now at the beginning of October, but we will soon. And we'll try to get a handle on what issues really interest people and what are what issues are worth studying. And you and I will be back together again doing it soon. Thank you, Catherine. All right. Thank you, Jay. Aloha.