Polls suggest that people are tired of broken promises and “fake news”

RAPID CITY, S.D. (KEVN) - Oftentimes, poll after poll shows the public disagrees with what politicians are pushing. But polls are not always correct and can lead people to believe the wrong information.

This brings into question whether politicians are out of touch with the public or if those politicians just speak about issues to get more votes as well as just how accurate are the polls conducted by the media.

After the previous election cycle, political-style polls have taken a resounding dip in popularity. In 2021, Gallup saw the second lowest record of trust in media where they said that only 36% of Americans have a “great deal” or “fair amount” of trust in the media.

A reason why this could be is because of folks like Kathy Abolafia, a Rapid City resident, who believes that a lot of the polls the mass media conducts are compromised.

“I believe they’re skewed, to begin with. I believe whatever people vote for, whoever is performing the poll wants to skew it to their opinion anyway,” said Abolafia.

This sentiment is not only felt throughout the Rapid City community, but possibly even the state, as some people feel certain polls only target one group of people.

This skepticism is translating into distrust between the public, media, and politicians’ agendas, with people feeling that politicians only work for themselves.

“I don’t really think the politicians really care about us, it’s all about what benefits their needs instead of what our needs are, I mean we are the ones that work hard and fill their bank accounts, and what about us?” said Rapid City resident, Cassie Wagner.

This was especially seen in the Rapid City community when Governor Kristi Noem opposed a bill to legalize recreational marijuana in South Dakota in 2020 -- which lead to the state Supreme Court overturning Amendment A.

“Yes, we want pot legalized, maybe with some restriction but people should not go to jail for a small crime like this,” said Abolafia “But somehow Kristi Noem found a loophole in the law, and took it away from the people who voted for it.”

This feeling of distrust between the people, media, and politicians is what discourages some from voting and encourages the deflating of confidence in the U.S. democracy. According to Bookings, misinformation from the persistent re-telling of the “big lie” has had an impact on whether people are deciding to vote either in the national election or even their local elections.

“I think there is a disconnect because oftentimes people get elected not because everybody is thinking for the best but because you got a pretty vocal group who has a very strong opinion and they get out to vote and your Average Joe doesn’t really know about that, doesn’t really care about it and says it doesn’t matter whether I vote or not,” said Rapid City resident Bruce Rampelberg.

With the midterm elections coming up some Rapid City residents want the community to work harder on holding South Dakota politicians to their promises; along with making sure that they are held accountable if they go back on their words.

“If anything we need to work a little harder as voters and as citizens to try and hold our politicians accountable. And make sure that they aren’t being corrupt and ignoring the will of the people,” said Rapid City resident, Charles Abourezk.

Copyright 2022 KEVN. All rights reserved.