Theres always a significant % of folks who when polled have "no opinion". Who are these dopes? My guess is that they have very little influence in society. My guess is that these are the same deep thinkers who lobbied to have a separate "Politics" forum.
I, for one, don't mind a separate politics forum. I can blissfully forget that certain rabid posters even exist. Not that I lobbied for it, despite being a deep thinker. But you didn't mean it that way, I'm sure. So there you have it, mojo - an opinion. Feel better?
I would simply say that these things happen. Of course, to quote Ethel Merman's character, Mrs. Marcus, in the movie, "It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World" : Now what kind of an attitude is that, these things happen? They only happen because this whole country is just full of people, who when these things happen, they just say these things happen, and that's why they happen! We gotta have control of what happens to us.
Some people, when asked a question, take time to actually think it over. If the question is one not commonly talked about, it may take them time to form an opinion. Some people have opinions which make it impossible to pick from the limited choices on a poll. Who would you prefer for president: Ron Paul or Ross Perot? Some folks will have a strong opinion one way or another. Other folks will have "no opinion" because they regard both as wing nuts who are so off their respective rockers that they belong in straight jackets. Pollsters never let you write an essay in response to their question. They provide 3 or 4 specific answers, and if you disagree with all of those, they put you down as "no opinion." Sometimes the issue itself is so trivial that not everyone has an opinion. I couldn't care less who wins a ball game. Poll me on my preference and I'd have no opinion. Just because you think that the choices in a poll are clear cut does not mean that the next guy agrees with you.
I'd bet a large number of "no opinion" responses are folks who just don't want to talk to stranger on the phone or be hassled by telemarketers. The people making the calls probably list some of the "stop calling me" hangups as "no opinion.
Have you ever been called for one of these surveys? The questions are often biased or no 'right answer' that truely fits what you believe or think. I have sometimes said "no opinion" for lack of being able to give a prolonged statement of why I don't agree completely with any of the a/b/c type choices I'm offered. So I may be a dope, but I do have an opinion, it just doesn't pigeon hole nicely with what the survey designers had in mind.
