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Analyst: Cambridge Analytica, Palantir and Quid Helped Trump Win Election (2017)

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Re: Analyst: Cambridge Analytica, Palantir and Quid Helped Trump Win Election (2017)

#21
post #9

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yes, it’s hard to believe that when you consider Hillary won the popular vote.

... based almost entirely on votes from one, unusually populous state, with different economics and demographics from the rest of the country. Winning one state by a landslide and losing 48 others (or whatever the exact numbers were) by a hairsbreadth still means you lost in 47 states. Hillary quite openly stated that she didn't care about the so-called "flyover" states (the "deplorables"), why is anyone surprised th…

> Hillary quite openly stated that she didn't care about the so-called "flyover" states (the "deplorables"), why is anyone surprised that in return, they voted against her?

You know, yours is the worst kind of lie, the kind Trump is famous for. Why did you write that?

(Incidentally, consider why former Secretary of State Clinton always referred to by Trump and his sexist ilk as "Hillary")

Here's Clinton's full comments, and you tell us all right here why the difference between her statement and what you wrote. Clinton in no way said "flyover" state people are "deplorable".

In fact, she said very much exactly the opposite.

"In too many places still, LGBT Americans are singled out for harassment and violence. You can get married on Saturday, post your pictures on Sunday and get fired on Monday. That's why we've got to continue the forward march of progress."

"And we cannot do it alone. I cannot do it alone. I'm not like Donald Trump, who says, 'I alone can fix it.' I've never quite figured out what it is he alone can fix. But that's not what you'll hear from me. I think we have to do this together. So, together we're gonna pass the Equality Act to guarantee full equality. We're going to put comprehensive quality affordable healthcare within reach for more people, including for mental health and addiction. We're going to take on youth homelessness, and as my wonderful, extraordinary, great daughter said, we are going to end the cruel and dangerous practice of conversion therapy. We're going to keep working toward an AIDS-free generation, a goal that I set as secretary of state, and with your help we're going to pass comprehensive gun laws. ..."

"I know there are only 60 days left to make our case -- and don't get complacent, don't see the latest outrageous, offensive, inappropriate comment and think, well, he's done this time. We are living in a volatile political environment. You know, to just be grossly generalistic, you could put half of Trump's supporters into what I call the basket of deplorables. Right? The racist, sexist, homophobic, xenophobic, Islamaphobic -- you name it. And unfortunately there are people like that. And he has lifted them up. He has given voice to their websites that used to only have 11,000 people -- now 11 million. He tweets and retweets their offensive hateful mean-spirited rhetoric. Now, some of those folks -- they are irredeemable, but thankfully they are not America."

"But the other basket -- and I know this because I see friends from all over America here -- I see friends from Florida and Georgia and South Carolina and Texas -- as well as, you know, New York and California -- but that other basket of people are people who feel that the government has let them down, the economy has let them down, nobody cares about them, nobody worries about what happens to their lives and their futures, and they're just desperate for change. It doesn't really even matter where it comes from. They don't buy everything he says, but he seems to hold out some hope that their lives will be different. They won't wake up and see their jobs disappear, lose a kid to heroin, feel like they're in a dead-end. Those are people we have to understand and empathize with as well."

Re: Analyst: Cambridge Analytica, Palantir and Quid Helped Trump Win Election (2017)

#22
Here in Mexico, all I remember is the anti-Trump narrative that was being pushed the by mainstream news companies (in a scarily coordinated matter). If these organizations were able to defeat this non-stop barrage of articles and news coverage, then they should be commended for taking on essentially the entire American establishment.

Perhaps all the attention from this news coverage (almost all negative) gave Trump the edge.

Perhaps the average person realized that something is fishy about all this coordinated negative coverage and looked for alternative sources.

Perhaps his message was powerful and important enough for most people that they could ignore the negative media assault.

Either way, I think it's time to stop looking for scapegoats and move on.

Re: Analyst: Cambridge Analytica, Palantir and Quid Helped Trump Win Election (2017)

#23
Worst thing about all of the information on Cambridge Analytica that has come out, is that now I'm skeptical of anything I read on these forums that is even remotely political.

I don't know if I'll ever get that trust back, (and maybe I shouldn't, skepticism of what you read on the internet is good), but it makes it pretty clear to me that the original promise of the internet will never be realized with the internet in its current form. The reality is that you can't trust any information gleaned from a forum or discussion website. Even something like HN, which holds itself out to be a little better than most in terms of elevating the discussion, is not immune to professional manipulation.

Re: Analyst: Cambridge Analytica, Palantir and Quid Helped Trump Win Election (2017)

#24
post #7

Is there actually any evidence that CA are actually good at data analysis? Everything I read makes it seem like they were one of the many "big data consultancies" of the era that were basically snake oil. (Which is not to say what they did was not wrong, just that I doubt it was effective)

Kogan was pretty open in his BBC radio interview that his research on personality types and political views (which was the nominal purpose of gathering his data) shows only very weak effects.

I could easily believe that CA's data set provided valuable information not available otherwise about people's political views (if it recorded what people had read and 'liked'), but I'm very sceptical that there was any particularly clever analysis going on.

Re: Analyst: Cambridge Analytica, Palantir and Quid Helped Trump Win Election (2017)

#25

Here in Mexico, all I remember is the anti-Trump narrative that was being pushed the by mainstream news companies (in a scarily coordinated matter). If these organizations were able to defeat this non-stop barrage of articles and news coverage, then they should be commended for taking on essentially the entire American establishment. Perhaps all the attention from this news coverage (almost all negative) gave Trump t…

> in a scarily coordinated matter

This is how you know you’re a conspiracy theorist: when multiple sources report the same thing, you assume it’s a sign of scary collusion instead of the simpler fact that it’s the truth.

Re: Analyst: Cambridge Analytica, Palantir and Quid Helped Trump Win Election (2017)

#26
post #9

Earlier quoted context omitted.

... based almost entirely on votes from one, unusually populous state, with different economics and demographics from the rest of the country. Winning one state by a landslide and losing 48 others (or whatever the exact numbers were) by a hairsbreadth still means you lost in 47 states. Hillary quite openly stated that she didn't care about the so-called "flyover" states (the "deplorables"), why is anyone surprised th…

> Hillary quite openly stated that she didn't care about the so-called "flyover" states (the "deplorables"), why is anyone surprised that in return, they voted against her? You know, yours is the worst kind of lie, the kind Trump is famous for. Why did you write that? (Incidentally, consider why former Secretary of State Clinton always referred to by Trump and his sexist ilk as "Hillary") Here's Clinton's full commen…

consider why former Secretary of State Clinton always referred to by Trump and his sexist ilk as "Hillary"

To differentiate her from Bill, obviously. Exactly the same way as the second Bush was universally known as Dubya.

Re: Analyst: Cambridge Analytica, Palantir and Quid Helped Trump Win Election (2017)

#27
post #7

Is there actually any evidence that CA are actually good at data analysis? Everything I read makes it seem like they were one of the many "big data consultancies" of the era that were basically snake oil. (Which is not to say what they did was not wrong, just that I doubt it was effective)

https://youtu.be/bB2BJjMNXpA

Re: Analyst: Cambridge Analytica, Palantir and Quid Helped Trump Win Election (2017)

#28
post #5

No, they didn’t. Trump won because people liked his message. Plain and simple. These companies existed long before 2016 and if they couldn’t help other legitimate candidates get elected, what could they have done so magical for Trump? Is it really so hard to believe that people didn’t like Hillary and didn’t think that another 8 years of the same would be good for them?

https://youtu.be/bB2BJjMNXpA
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