I HAD planned to address the Gaslighted Polls in the Variety on the Marianas Agupa Show this past Saturday but the power was out and the show was canceled, so here it is. The polls in the Variety are indeed genuine attempts to gauge what the general public is thinking. When I saw the results of the first poll showing the Governor ahead of Kilili and Arnold, the very FIRST thing I thought about was “he is at it again.” I think most readers already KNOW whom I’m talking about without even mentioning his name because his reputation for gaslighting, malarkey schemes does precede him.
There is no way this Governor can legitimately be getting more votes than Kilili and Arnold unless the poll is being “rigged.” I am publicly protesting the quality of these polls, even though the intent is good. What was even more surprising was the second Poll asking if Rep. Propst should run for Governor that had more “no votes than yes,” which was another ridiculous outcome in the polling. WE really can’t trust the Variety’s poll, until the poll is established from a real predetermined pool of voters who are registered Democrats or Republicans. Without showing the total number of votes being cast it is irrelevant to consider these polls that can easily be manipulated due to our smallness in numbers, unlike polls on the mainland that are composed of 10s of thousands. It would take an estimated 1,800 to 3,600 of the 18,000 voters to have a qualified sampling of voters in a poll with a variance of 5%.
I believe the Governor is up to his same old mode-of-operations gaslighting and manipulating things for his personal intentions. I wouldn’t put it pass him soliciting votes and even a group designated to generated votes for him. But this is just an ALLEGED allegation just like the ALLEGED allegation of the Governor trying to “bribe” people to control the House with Angel Demapan. And don’t forget all of the ALLEGED things that the JGO Committee is exposing. I guess WE the People will have to live with the gaslighting of all these ALLEGED crimes and other malarkey behavior.
But first and foremost, the Governor will ALLEGEDLY NEVER be re-elected based on the exposed facts that clearly imply he is guilty of a multitude of crimes and ethics violations. These ALLEGED Polls need to be fixed to reflect the total number of votes cast as they are “gaslighting the Governor.” Showing the total number of votes will give a more accurate reflection of the “voting population’s stance” because if only 30 people voted we know the Poll is not worth the ink used to print the results. But if the poll shows 3,000 voted then WE can assume that is it is a more accurate and creditable sampling of voters’ choices. So PLEASE fix this poll as people are truly being misled by misleading polls.
There is no doubt that Kilili, Rep. Propst and even Arnold will get more votes than the Governor unless voters are ALLEGEDLY blind deaf and even worse-off. Personally, If Kilili is replaced the CNMI will LOSE big-time. We will lose the seniority that Kilili has which gives him “significant options and positions on committees” and a new person will also have to “learn the topography of Washington Politics” and won’t be as affective. There is a saying of wisdom that truly applies to our Delegate “if it ain’t broken, don’t try to fix it.” My preference all along has been “Ed Propst for Governor with Tina Sablan as the Lt.” which will have far more lasting potential than Kilili who might be a one-term candidate nearing retirement. So we will see what time has in store for the CNMI. To be continued: One people One Direction.
The writer is an Economist, Political Scientist, retired teacher, former CNMI Board of Education Member, James Madison Fellow (U.S. Constitutional Scholar), a Fulbright-Hays & Humanities Scholar who resides in Kagman III.
Ambrose Bennett
