If you believe the polls, the race for the president of the United States is all but over with Joe Biden holding a healthy national lead. NOT SO FAST says Brandon Rottinghaus, Ph.D. and professor of political science at the University of Houston. He says there is a certain element about polling regarding President Trump that can’t be trusted. “You may have some of what we call non-response bias people who are effectively hiding their opinions of Donald Trump because they think its unpopular to back a President who does and says the kinds of things that Donald Trump does.”
Also this week on Houston newsmakers with Khambrel Marshall is Mark Jones, Ph.D., and Fellow in Political Science at the Baker Institute at Rice University. Jones says the increased turnout is a reflection of those who normally vote but are doing so earlier this year. When asked what the biggest surprise will be on November 3rd, he said it could be a landslide against President Trump. “The dam will effectively break and on election night we won’t have fears of Donald Trump contesting the results because the result is going to be so clear cut against him.” Of course those are words that could come back to haunt him election night but he and Professor Rottinghaus weigh in on the many issues:
--Early Vote impact
--Decision to limit drop off ballot boxes
--Supreme court nomination
--Local, state and congressional races
Also this week, a Houston Newsmakers EXTRA all about politics.
Constable initiates Eviction Assistance Program
It started when a national TV audience saw Harris County Constables carrying out heartbreaking eviction orders. The outpouring from that audience led to a gofundme account of almost 250,000 dollars! Harris County Precinct 1 Constable Alan Rosen has turned that funding into a partnership to form the Eviction Assistance Program that last week held the first of what will be many efforts to reach into the communities most likely impacted by evictions. “They came scared. They came upset. They came frustrated because of all the bureaucratic paperwork they have to do,” Rosen said. “I’m very hopeful and I did see that a lot of people felt relieved when they left because they felt like they had a plan. They were given proper legal advice.”
Watch this week’s Houston Newsmakers Sunday morning at 10:30am
More Information:
Mark Jones, Ph.D., Fellow in Political Science, Baker Institute, Rice University
· Website: https://www.bakerinstitute.org/experts/mark-p-jones/
· Twitter: @MarkPJonesTX
Brandon Rottinghaus, Ph.D. Political Science Professor, University of Houston
· Website: https://uh.edu/class/political-science/faculty-and-staff/professors/rottinghaus/index
· Twitter: @bjrottingjaus
Constable Alan Rosen, Author: Finding Your Center After the Bottom Falls Out
· Website: https://pct1constable.net/
· Twitter: Pct1Constable