The "Name our Populist Movement Poll" Results! [View all]

Last edited Sun Nov 30, 2014, 05:19 PM - Edit history (1)

First, here are the results:
NOTE: as there was no single choice that gained a pure majority of votes, there will be a runoff.



Second, I have to be honest -- I had some problems with the original poll:

1. The original poll was setup without the full approval of the Host Group
2. The existing name of the Group was not offered as an Option till the voting was already done
3. The OP heavily promoted a favorite and may have inadvertantly biased the poll.
4. The poll selection tended to consolidate a specific voter preference under one option, and diffused any opposing preference over several very similar options.
5. A hard deadline was the wrong approach - IMO, there was no need to force a quick decision

That being said the rest of the Hosts (including me) allowed to the poll to stand, so now we have to act on the results.

Third - here are some ideas on those results:

• Since we are a group seeking Reform, the idea of "Reform" should be a part of any name we choose.

• "Roosevelt Party" was most popular, but also most controversial. Still, we should honor the Roosevelt Family as Populist icons.

• Few people liked the "Party" tag. If we get the IDEA right behind the name, then "Wing," "Caucus," "Coalition," etc. matters less.

• "Democratic Wing" and "Social Democrats" both tip the hat to the fact that we are the Democratic Party. We should honor the ideals of our Democratic Party heritage.

• The remaining 4 choices were variations of our Group name. Yes we want reforms, but we want specific reforms. Populist and progressive -- a meeting of two ideals. Our name should reflect both of those ideals

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Finally, based on the above, I propose we vote on a runoff of those ideas, not of those names.
This time the poll will stay open without hard deadline, the only limit being inactivity. When the poll goes a week without a vote, I'll lock it.