What Have You Had Enough Of, Hunh? Mass Sampling of 17 Supplies Answer

The Harvard Crimson's scientific simple sample of political opinion

The American people are in the midst of a grave crisis in political thought.

This is the outstanding conclusion reached by Crimson political analysts on the basis of a scientific poll of opinion just completed.

Using the latest scientific sampling techniques, The Crimson carefully selected at random 17 Harvard students as they sat relaxed in their classes and asked the following questions:

"Will you, or would you if you could, vote Republican this year?" This was followed by the query: "IF SO--What have you had enough of, huh?" And "What do you want more of, huh?" And in the alternative, "IF NOT--Why haven't you had enough? huh?" and "What do YOU want more of, HmmM?"

The results follow: Will vote Republican  35% Will not vote Republican  35% Doesn't matter or don't like either party  12% Don't know  18%   100%

It is apparent from this survey that Harvard students must decide between now and next Tuesday what the fate of the country will be. Experienced experts warn, however, not to conclude that the balance of power lies, as is so often the case, with the undecided "don't know" group of voters. True, if every one of them joined one side or the other, one of the two parties conceivably could be victorious in the election.

Both Could Lose

But the experts warn that the combination this indicated would give the winning faction only 53% of the votes, which is within the 5% margin of error which experience shows must be allowed in polls of this sort. It is possible, in these circumstances, that neither party will win. (It is assumed that the "don't care" and "don't like either" group will naturally vote for minor parties.)

It is a well-established fact that the Harvard student body is a representative cross-section of total U. S. public opinion. A scientific cross-section of this cross-section, therefore, will give an accurate reflection of the country, section by section. For example, on the basis of population and other figures, it can be taken for granted that each Harvard student either has, or has had, at least 1.5 parents, two thirds of whom would vote one way or another. It is easy to see the influence of Harvard--extending out among 140,000,000 people.

Enough of What?

Revealing of the public's state of mind are the answers to the second group of questions. Republican voters declared themselves as having "had enough" of "frivolous agency spending," "controls, confusion, communism and claptrap," "Bungling at Washington, shortage, OPA etc." Some added the word, "Truman." These people wanted more of "economy in domestic spending," "honest and competent government," "more efficient organization of the reconversion program," "leadership." One woman polled put down "love," from which it is deducted she was interested intensely in peace in the broad one-world sense.

The non-Republican voters turned in a variety of answers as to why they hadn't had enough. One said, "Haven't had enough decent legislation." Another wrote, thoughtfully, "It's fun watching Harry make up his mind." (The voter did not specify but the editors believe it reasonable to assume that he referred to Harry S. Truman, who is President of the United States.) These non-Republicans also specified that they wanted more of things like "Brains," "New Deal Senators," "Socialism," and other political assets.

Graduates Are GOP

Graduate students are predominantly Republican, 5.7% of them (4) answering "Yes" to the first question, and 29% (2), saying "No." Seventeen percent (1) were on the fence. Juniors are overwhelmingly non-Republican, 66% of those having opinions (2) answering "no." One-third (1) said "yes." Half of the Harvard Freshman class thinks politics "too deep" for them, 25% thinks it doesn't matter and 25% will vote Republican. Sophomores weren't polled because they always know all the answers anyway, nor were seniors who are invariably thoroughly confused. Both, therefore, are unreliable for poll purposes.

A tabulation by classes:   Yes  No  Don't Know Etc. Freshmen  25%  0%  75% Juniors  25%  50%  25% Graduates  29%  29%  17%

It is apparent from this survey that Harvard students must decide between now and next Tuesday what the fate of the country will be. Experienced experts warn, however, not to conclude that the balance of power lies, as is so often the case, with the undecided "don't know" group of voters. True, if every one of them joined one side or the other, one of the two parties conceivably could be victorious in the election.

Both Could Lose

But the experts warn that the combination this indicated would give the winning faction only 53% of the votes, which is within the 5% margin of error which experience shows must be allowed in polls of this sort. It is possible, in these circumstances, that neither party will win. (It is assumed that the "don't care" and "don't like either" group will naturally vote for minor parties.)

It is a well-established fact that the Harvard student body is a representative cross-section of total U. S. public opinion. A scientific cross-section of this cross-section, therefore, will give an accurate reflection of the country, section by section. For example, on the basis of population and other figures, it can be taken for granted that each Harvard student either has, or has had, at least 1.5 parents, two thirds of whom would vote one way or another. It is easy to see the influence of Harvard--extending out among 140,000,000 people.

Enough of What?

Revealing of the public's state of mind are the answers to the second group of questions. Republican voters declared themselves as having "had enough" of "frivolous agency spending," "controls, confusion, communism and claptrap," "Bungling at Washington, shortage, OPA etc." Some added the word, "Truman." These people wanted more of "economy in domestic spending," "honest and competent government," "more efficient organization of the reconversion program," "leadership." One woman polled put down "love," from which it is deducted she was interested intensely in peace in the broad one-world sense.

The non-Republican voters turned in a variety of answers as to why they hadn't had enough. One said, "Haven't had enough decent legislation." Another wrote, thoughtfully, "It's fun watching Harry make up his mind." (The voter did not specify but the editors believe it reasonable to assume that he referred to Harry S. Truman, who is President of the United States.) These non-Republicans also specified that they wanted more of things like "Brains," "New Deal Senators," "Socialism," and other political assets.

Graduates Are GOP

Graduate students are predominantly Republican, 5.7% of them (4) answering "Yes" to the first question, and 29% (2), saying "No." Seventeen percent (1) were on the fence. Juniors are overwhelmingly non-Republican, 66% of those having opinions (2) answering "no." One-third (1) said "yes." Half of the Harvard Freshman class thinks politics "too deep" for them, 25% thinks it doesn't matter and 25% will vote Republican. Sophomores weren't polled because they always know all the answers anyway, nor were seniors who are invariably thoroughly confused. Both, therefore, are unreliable for poll purposes.

A tabulation by classes:   Yes  No  Don't Know Etc. Freshmen  25%  0%  75% Juniors  25%  50%  25% Graduates  29%  29%  17%