Before answering your question there's a few things that must be considered: 1) Assuming the 1224 voters were chosen randomly (which is almost certainly the case) then the percentages found indicate what proportion of the country is Democrat, Republican, or Independent. There may just be more Democrats than Republicans in the US. 2) Random samples contain a margin of error.
There are multiple factors to consider, primary ones being the size of the sample and response bias as well as whether the sample is "random enough". Without going into details the margin of error is usually around +-3 to 5%. These two points should (the first point in particular) renders the person's argument invalid.
If you do what he/she recommends then you're using a non-random sample which defeats the purpose of the poll. However just to see how much of a shift would be needed (we'll only trade Democrats for Republicans and keep the number of Independents constant): democrats original = 1224*0.42 = 514 (approximate) republicans original = 1224*0.36 = 441 (approximate) independents = 1224*0.19 = 233 (approximate) Assuming Independents vote 50/50 for either Obama or Romney and Democrats/Republicans also vote along party lines we have these approximate votes for each candidate: Obama = 514+116 = 630 Romney = 441+116 = 557 The estimated percentages I get (will be different from poll's) are: Obama = 630/1187 = 53.1% Romney = 557/1187 = 46.9% So Obama leads by roughly 6 percent. Now letting "x" denote the number of Democrats we switch for Republicans and setting Romney ahead by 5% gives: (630-x)/1187 = 0.475 (note 0.475=47.5%) (557+x)/1187 = 0.525 (note 0.525=52.5%) Now let's solve for "x": ((630-x)-(557+x))/1187 = 0.475-0.525 = -0.05 (73-2x)/1187 = -0.05 73-2x = -0.05*1187 -2x = -0.05*1187 - 73.
I cant really gove you an answer,but what I can give you is a way to a solution, that is you have to find the anglde that you relate to or peaks your interest. A good paper is one that people get drawn into because it reaches them ln some way.As for me WW11 to me, I think of the holocaust and the effect it had on the survivors, their families and those who stood by and did nothing until it was too late.