The 9th Issue of Policy Briefing, NADS: Why is the Poll Mistaken for American Presidential Election?

Result of this presidential election may be a little unexpected. On the night before the official result was out, both American mainstream media and poll results showed a higher support rate for Hilary than for Trump, however, the final result was quite a surprise. People won’t be able to stop wondering: what happened to America’s favored poll? How did this “mistake” happen? This has put American scholars into deep thinking. This article believes the reason is likely just as what the Americans said: America’s principle of “political correctness” is the root problem. This principle plays a role of authoritarian regime, including the ban on “arbitrary discussion” of racial, gender and religious issues. For a long time, the opinion atmosphere shaped by this principle has made most Americans “drift along” on appearance by hiding their true thoughts so as to avoid being deemed as aliens. The initiators of “political correctness” are the American elites who are immersed in the context they created and use this standard to perceive the whole America and American people’s thoughts. However, the reality seems like a deviation. In this election, the fact that Hilary who shared 90% of success rate was defeated by Trump who shared 10% of success rate is a slap in the face to the American elites. So, the principle of “political correctness” not only covers America’s real problems, but also restricts the thinking ability of the American elites and therefore causes them to be badly disengaged with the public, which is worthy of some rethinking by Americans.