How politicians answer questions without actually answering

To determine how they get away with it, Rogers showed participants video clips of a simulated debate. The “candidate” was asked about universal health care or a similar question about the war on drugs. The actor answered both questions with a statement about universal health care.

Only 40 percent of the listeners could remember the original “war on drugs” question, compared with 88 percent of those who heard the “health care” question. If the listeners couldn’t remember the question correctly, the speaker was determined to have successfully dodged that question, satisfying viewers with an alternate, though similar, answer.