This poll illustrates well Churchill's point about the greatest argument against democracy, and why the erosion of trust in expertise is so dangerous - most people have no idea what they are talking about on even the most basic and simple facts on even the most high-profile issues. Regardless of your stance on this issue, I hope that we can agree the fact that vast quantities of people cannot come even to an internally consistent position is a serious problem in using this poll to come to policy (rather than political) conclusions.
I vaguely remember seeing a historical drama on the Declaration of Independence - I think it was 1776 but I am not certain - in which the key scene is one where a representative, instructed by his delegation to vote against, votes 'for' instead, on the grounds that he was not chosen just as a messenger of a pre-determined decision, but as a responsible and principled person empowered to use his judgement to come to what he decided would result in the best outcome for the people he represented. This is the true job of those in Congress, but it has been forgotten with an all-too-fast election cycle and voters who have been repeatedly told that representative democracy is about 'the will of the people'.
That was indeed
1776. The representative was Lyman Hall of Georgia.
