Appendix to article on polarization and presidential approval calculations

For the sake of clarity...

Readers,

I don’t usually send updates to correct typos, but the blog post that went out tonight has a meaningful one. Because I moved some words around after writing (I need to stop doing this!), I ended up writing:

Polarization means presidents have higher ceilings to their approval — because they have more opponents that are hard to sway by new events or evidence. But they also have higher floors.

When what I meant was:

Polarization means presidents have lower ceilings to their approval — because they have more opponents that are hard to sway by new events or evidence. But they also have higher floors.

Given the context of the surrounding paragraphs, I think you are all smart enough to catch this and to know what I meant. But for the sake of flagging the error, thereby making sure you know that I noticed it after the fact (and maybe ensuring you that you’re not crazy), I thought I’d send this email.

That’s all, and talk next week…

Elliott

Is Joe Biden actually that unpopular, or is polarization distorting his approval rating? | No. 180 — January 23, 2022