Posted on 10/27/2012 8:43:37 AM PDT by 2ndDivisionVet
DEBATE season is over and there are only eight days left before the US Presidential Election.
As the Filipino Channel’s daily newscast “Balitang America” reports on each debate between President Barack Obama and Gov. Mitt Romney, we also engage our viewers by asking their opinion about the candidates’ performances in presenting the policies and platform of their respective parties.
The first debate was reported to belong to Romney, as indicated by almost all mainstream media polls -- primarily because of Obama’s “lackluster” and “flaccid” performance in this first face-off.
Our ISYU NGAYON daily online poll of “Balitang America” also showed the same result. A big majority of our Fil-Am viewers saying Romney has proven he is a stronger leader, who can fix America’s economic mess and create jobs for millions of Americans.
Balitang America’s poll results, however, became divergent in the second and third debate -- puzzling many Fil-Ams and even kababayans back home.
In the second debate (a town hall style face-off on domestic issues and foreign policy), Democrats, pundits and those who follow the US presidential election worldwide, said Obama “came back swinging.”
This was affirmed by the CBS/Knowledge networks‘ scientific poll, which found that 37 percent of debate watchers gave an advantage to Pres. Obama, 30 percent favored Gov. Romney and 33 percent called the debate a tie.
The CNN poll of registered voters who watched the debate (not just the undecided voters polled in the aforementioned CBS News survey) also declared Obama the winner: 46 percent to 39 percent.
Balitang America’s non-scientific poll, however, reported the opposite results: our Fil-Am viewers gave a decisive victory to Gov. Romney (72 percent against Obama’s 28 percent).
The same thing happened again in the third and final debate, which focused on foreign policy.
A CNN/ORC International poll of people who watched the debate showed 48 percent favored Obama compared to 40 percent for Romney. The CBS News polls reported an even more decisive 20-point Obama lead, 53 percent, against Romney’s 23 percent. CNBC polls reported another big win for the President: Obama at 67 percent, Romney at 30 percent.
And our Balitang America Poll? Sixty-three percent of our viewers still voted for Romney as winner of the third debate, while only 37 percent said Obama won.
Kababayans who watch The Filipino Channel’s daily newscast “Balitang America” are familiar with our daily poll. We ask our viewers a question and they are invited to vote their opinion about the issue of the day through our website www.balitangamerica.tv.
We announce the poll results the next day, along with some “man-on-the-street interviews” made by our correspondents in the field, as they do their respective beats, where they gather short responses of Fil-Ams from different parts of the nation to the Isyu Ngayon question. These short interviews are aired as bumpers before the newscast goes into commercial breaks.
As disclosed on our website, ISYU NGAYON is a non-scientific poll. We have no control over sampling. Those who want to vote can vote, although each IP address can only vote once. These votes are tallied by the computer application/software we subscribe to. We also say the results do not, in anyway, represent the sentiments of the whole Filipino American community in the United States -- just of those who watch the newscast and are motivated enough to vote on that particular poll.
But seeing this trend among Fil-Am viewers and voters of our poll and the comments and exchanges posted on our website, makes us wonder and speculate about the reasons behind them.
Here are some comments from our readers:
“All polls showed Obama winning the 3rd debate by big margins. Perhaps those polled by Balitang America were watching the 1st debate or did they really watch? How can anyone say truthfully that Romney won that debate, when what he did that night was to agree [with] all the policies of Pres. Obama? In fact, he acted like an endorser, not an opponent...I don’t know how those Fil-Ams, who voted online, determined Romney as the winner -- even Rush Limbaugh had so much to say against Romney’s performance during that debate...that’s why a Manny Pacquiao can be elected congressman, his wife can be vice-governor, and Anabelle Rama might be elected as congresswoman, too...See the pattern?” - Dan M. Dela Fuente
“I guess viewers of Balitang America are rich Pinoys. [Either that] or they don’t understand what Gov. Romney is saying...” - Vic Biglang-Awa
“I’m glad that most of us can see through the divisive ways [that] the president uses to get our votes. Nov. 6 will be a good day in US history, because that will be the day we speak against such [a] tactic...” - George Tunaya
“Republicans disenfranchise minorities, so why Filipinos are supporting them is a brain scratcher.” - Nelson Melegrito
“If you vote for Obama, your families in the Philippines who work for outsource companies (or call centers) will lose their jobs!” - Scott Glen
“I’ve been going around. I was not set on who to vote for, at first. I was in Hawaii and I kept mum since I thought that was Obama’s bailiwick, but the Fil-Am Hawaiianos I met there were pro-Romney. Then, in Skokie, Illinois, which I thought was an Obama stronghold being near Chicago, the Fil-Ams I’ve spoken to are also pro-Romney. Fil-Ams are a hardworking, pragmatic lot, who came here to pursue ‘the American Dream’ so they are motivated by who they think will improve [the] American economy so that they can have secure jobs and enjoy the fruits of their labor.” - Elizabeth Cueva
“Filipino-Americans voting for Republicans are disgraceful. They are immigrants voting for people, whose aim is to make life more difficult for immigrants. There is absolutely nothing ‘God-like’ about treating minorities and the less fortunate, the way the Republicans have chosen to.” - Jae Def
“Kaya mas maraming Pinoy ang maka-Republican dahil dito, kasi most Pinoys have secure jobs and [are] not on welfare [or receiving] government assistance. Another reason, Pinoys are family oriented, pro-life, [and] against abortion.” - Rino Pedro
“Jobless benefits [and] food stamps beneficiaries are both Democrats and Republicans. They were unfortunate to have lost their jobs. Not all abuse. Beneficiaries (both Democrats and Republicans) also include retirees: people who have worked hard all their lives, not deadbeats.” - Ceso
“Liberal and social media go for Obama as expected. The silent majority is for Romney. Change has not come to the US since Obama.” - Tess Cruzado
“Fox News must be so jealous of Balitang America for beating them at what they do best!” - OJ Jorge
It was really refreshing to see comments that did not get mean or crude. Agree or disagree, each one was fairly well-stated and civil.
My wife is a Filipina and not political. The consensus I’m getting through her network of friends (any guy with a Filipina wife knows the extent of such), is pro-Romney.
Considering we’re in So. Cal, I grabbed at that silver lining. :)
MY asawa is Filipina and her friends generally refer to getting that naygro (best phonetic) out.
This doesn’t surprise me. A lot of Fil-Am women are married to servicemen. They believe in the American dream, too. They work hard and don’t want to live on charity. They want to have their own businesses. They are from mostly Catholic backgrounds and are naturally conservative.
I work for the Navy in San Diego. HUGE Fil-AM community of civil servants. We refer to the ladies as the Filipina Mafia. You do NO want to cross them. Anyway, back to the subject-—yes, I am also hearing more Pro-Romney chatter from them.
Lol, I have a friend that is Filipina and her husband calls it the Filipina mafia My nephew married a sweet Filipina girl and she is the same, wherever they move she finds a whole new network of “friends” from home.:)
Haha, so you have heard of the Filipina mafia, too. I agree don’t cross them, but they are very sweet and lots of fun.
From the article: “We have no control over sampling.”
I love the honesty. A recent thread here stated something like 91% of those sampled either hang up or refuse to answer questions. To me that represents a huge margin of error that could sway a poll one way or another for reasons the 91% will never give.
In other words, our pollsters have no control over sampling either and all polls are really a bunch of crap. To me if a given poll has 91% of those contacted refuse to give a opinion, then there is a 91% margin of error.
Not a bit surprising. Filipino-Americans are an overwhelmingly Republican constituency. Not 100% of course, but as a group more Republican than US whites.
The problem is that they aren’t politically significant anywhere, even in their strongholds of California and Hawaii.
In California, even with their significant numbers (1 million or more) they are a drop in the bucket compared to the hispanic population. In Hawaii there is an element of ethnic rivalry vs the Japanese-Americans that translates into politics, but the Filipinos are also outnumbered.
I think the coming landslide is going to amaze a lot of people. 1980 or 1972?
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