Why Andrew Yang Supporters Should Not Worry About Low Polling Averages (for now)
Democratic Presidential candidate Andrew Yang has a large group of supporters named the “Yang Gang” which are dedicated to his causes. Many of the Yang Gang are committed to Yang’s passion and overall ‘Humanity First’ campaign. Aside from the relatively low polling percentage (5% nationally), Yang has had a slow, but steady and consistent rise of growth in his campaign — and its about to take off.
Yang has had a tough road to get to where he is at now. He’s been suppressed by the media and speaking time at debates have been low; Meanwhile, Yang’s fundraising goals are met and increasing, political endorsements are coming in steady, and his polling percentages compared to mainstream media mentions is higher. Let’s take a look:
First and foremost, Andrew Yang’s polling percentage by all means is not anywhere near the highest percentage, polling at 5% and in 5th place nationally in the NPR/PBS NewsHor/Marist poll from December 9th-12th. This same poll has Joe Biden (24%) in the lead, followed by Bernie Sanders (22%), Elizabeth Warren (17%), and Pete Buttigieg (13%). Below Yang, we have Amy Klobuchar (4%) and Michael Bloomberg (4%). These percentages are important to keep in mind throughout the entirety of this publication.
Yang Gang member ‘Elves for Yang’ on twitter (@President46Yang) shows the media bias very clearly. He tweeted this image that shows the polling percentage per 100 TV mentions:
Next, Andrew Yang has also steady momentum when it comes to fundraising. From Q2 to Q3, Andrew Yang, by far, has the most growth in donations (257%!) A look at this graph shows this compared to other campaigns:
With just days left till Q4 is over, the fundraising numbers will be released. Recently, Elizabeth Warren’s campaign fundraising has slowed around 30% this quarter with just 17 million. On the other hand, Andrew Yang has not slowed down, but continued to pick up momentum. With the endorsements of Elon Musk, Donald Glover, and Steven Yeun, Yang’s campaign gains more and more support from this diverse set actors, musicians, and entrepreneurs. Speculation among the Yang Gang estimates that Yang will raise anywhere between 15–25 million this quarter. If Yang beats Senator Elizabeth Warren in fundraising who polls at 17%, it will show the power of Yang’s grassroots campaign.
Speaking time at the debate should be fair and based upon polling percentage, but time and time again it has not been so. At the last debate in December, Yang received the least amount of speaking time. Although tied in national polls with Klobuchar, Yang had almost half of her speaking time. She also has 175,000 less individual donors than Yang. It is apparent that there is some lack of planning and perhaps even bias within these debates.
Lastly, Jimmy Carter campaign exemplifies why Yang supports should not be worried that he is not polling at high numbers yet. During his campaign in 1976, the first half of the primaries had an average polling percentage of 4.2%. The U.S. hasn’t voted in the primaries yet, and Yang already has an average polling of 5%.
With much more room to grow, Yang will continue this long road ahead to Iowa in the next few weeks. All the Yang Gang can do is hope that more celebrities show endorsements and support, that fundraising continues to grow, and ultimately polling percentages rise. This should all fall into place for Yang’s campaign. It is apparent that Yang’s campaign has received some bias or unfair journalism and coverage from the mainstream media. With all this being somewhat true, Yang has not shown any signs of slowing down. With Iowa around the corner, he needs at least 15% of the vote to obtain any delegates. The mainstream media will fail to ignore Yang as his support continues to increase.
