Three weeks ago when a Newsweek poll put Democrat Barack Obama 15 points ahead of Republican John McCain, the ABC and CBS evening newscasts highlighted the out of sync finding. But when a new Newsweek survey released Friday placed Obama a mere three points in front of McCain, neither ABC's World News nor the CBS Evening News mentioned it on Friday or Saturday night.
“A startling new poll,” fill-in CBS Evening News anchor Russ Mitchell announced during the Friday, June 20 newscast, “Barack Obama now leads John McCain nationwide by 15 points, 51 to 36 percent. This according to Newsweek.” The next night, Saturday, June 21, ABC World News anchor David Muir pointed to “a new poll from Newsweek magazine that shows Barack Obama opening a 15-point lead over John McCain.”
Newsweek's Jonathan Darman failed to consider the inaccuracy of the earlier poll as he expressed his befuddlement on Friday with the slim 44 to 41 lead for Obama: “Perhaps most puzzling is how McCain could have gained traction in the past month.”
Muir's item in full on the June 21 World News:
We turn to the presidential race tonight and a new poll from Newsweek magazine that shows Barack Obama opening a 15-point lead over John McCain. Other polls this week showed Obama with only a slight edge.
“Barack's Bounce: The latest NEWSWEEK Poll shows the Democrat with a 15-point lead over McCain,” read the headline over the article by Michael Hirsh posted the afternoon of Friday, June 20.
Three weeks later: “Glow Fading? The latest NEWSWEEK Poll shows Barack Obama leading John McCain by only 3 points. What a difference a few weeks can make,” posted on Friday, July 11. An excerpt from the story by Jonathan Darman:
A month after emerging victorious from the bruising Democratic nominating contest, some of Barack Obama's glow may be fading. In the latest NEWSWEEK Poll, the Illinois senator leads Republican nominee John McCain by just 3 percentage points, 44 percent to 41 percent. The statistical dead heat is a marked change from last month's NEWSWEEK Poll, where Obama led McCain by 15 points, 51 percent to 36 percent....But perhaps most puzzling is how McCain could have gained traction in the past month. To date, direct engagement with Obama has not seemed to favor the GOP nominee. McCain has announced major initiatives on energy and the economy but failed to dominate the conversation on those issues. Last week's shake-up of the campaign's senior management did little to halt calls from Republicans for a major overhaul in McCain's message. Nor did it quell the lingering suspicion among Republicans that 2008 is simply destined to be a Democratic year....
—Brent Baker is Vice President for Research and Publications at the Media Research Center
Editor at Large
Comments Policy
Have any of you noticed the......
July 12, 2008 - 19:58 ET by BEGRUNT"smugness factor" regarding Obamatron? It seems the more smug, head tilting, cockyness he exhibits, the lower his poll numbers fall? He is really full of himself lately, and I believe it is turning people off. He is acting like he's already won, just waiting for inauguration. This cockness is going to cost him. Just like any non-scripted debate......um,uh,uh,uh,um,um,um, ah, um.
"If a man does his best, what else is there"?
General George S. Patton Jr.
begrunt
July 12, 2008 - 21:22 ET by the struggler"This cockness is going to cost him."Ha!Ha!
Don't tell me you "forgot" the i.
oops.....you got me........LOL!!!
July 12, 2008 - 21:52 ET by BEGRUNT"If a man does his best, what else is there"?
General George S. Patton Jr.
Hey Struggler....I guess we will have to refer.......
July 12, 2008 - 21:59 ET by BEGRUNTto Obamatron as "his cockness" from now on.....ROTFLMAO!!!
"If a man does his best, what else is there"?
General George S. Patton Jr.
Cockness of Obama?
July 12, 2008 - 22:07 ET by jefflebowskiMaybe Revrum Jackson has already paid Obama a visit!
Jeff Lebowski
www.angrywhitedude.c...
LOL-jeff, in that case, it looks like Jesse, ahh, missed.
July 12, 2008 - 22:20 ET by R D Helm:-)
The truth is insensitive. - Neal Boortz
Which goes to show these
July 12, 2008 - 20:01 ET by Chris Norman"...Yawn When it Plummets to 3 Points"
Which goes to show these "polls" are only useful as a tool for the media to advance their political agenda - in this case, of casting Obama as the inevitable president to demoralize the GOP. For everyone else, they are about as useful as the horoscopes.
McNotObama '08
Cheap shots
July 12, 2008 - 20:00 ET by KC MulvilleOccasionally, in poorly written law shows, a courtroom lawyer will make some outrageous accusation, and then immediately wave his hand and say, "I withdraw the question, Your Honor." The judge may instruct the jury to ignore the comment, but the damage was already done. Lawyers who do that think they're being clever.
The only way to penalize that kind of cheap shot lawyer is for the jury to see it for the cheap shot it is.
Well, my fellow jurors? What's it gonna be?
Obama's insincerity is so obvious, even Democrats can see it now
July 12, 2008 - 20:18 ET by garyganuMccain has had several opportunities to challenge Obama and score big points within the last couple of weeks, but as usual, he chose to remain silent.
I think that McCain believes that any criticism of Obama on his part, will be spun by the press as racist, so he remains silent.
This strategy seems to be working because lately Obama has been his own worst enemy. His recent remarks stating that Americans should learn Spanish, while many are functionally illiterate in English, is an example of how he is constantly putting his foot in his mouth. Not only that, but his comment that Americans in Europe are embarrassing because all they can say is "merci, beaucoup", makes it clear that his elitist views about the average American, are heart felt by Obama.
He also said that he himself didn't speak any foreign languages, when in previous interviews he said that he spoke Arabic and a little Spanish.
Also last week Obama softened his position of immediate withdrawal of American troops from Iraq, saying that he will talk to the generals on the ground before deciding on his actions. A sane policy, but a reversal from what he has been saying all along.
It is clear to all that are following Obamas campaign that he has no core values and is pandering to whichever crowd he is playing to at the time. Finally, some Obama supporters are asking themselves: Exactly what does Obama stand for when he says "hope and change"?
As for the democrats that still support him, they realize that he is just saying whatever he thinks is necessary to get elected, and then will revert to the ultra left policies that he has supported all along. Which proves what I have been saying all along. Most liberals believe that "the ends justify the means"., because there are no moral absolutes. To them, truth or lying can just as easily be used as a means to an end, with no shame for deception and dishonesty.
"Exactly what does Obama
July 12, 2008 - 20:19 ET by Chris Norman"Exactly what does Obama stand for when he says "hope and change"?"
Other than the fact those buzz words probably polled well when they were trying to select a campaign theme? Nothing, really and that's why he's having trouble backing those two words up with anything of substance.
McNotObama '08
Hope & Change
July 12, 2008 - 20:24 ET by Free StinkerObama Hopes he can sucker enough people into voting for him so he can Change the USA into a "Worker's Paradise".
Free, LOL. Of course, that
July 12, 2008 - 20:32 ET by Chris NormanFree,
LOL. Of course, that won't appear anywhere in his campaign literature. :)
McNotObama '08
Obama has a plan
July 12, 2008 - 20:40 ET by AndanteJuly 12, 2008 - 20:19 ET by Chris Norman
"Exactly what does Obama stand for when he says "hope and change"?"
Well, Obama says he'll use "aggressive diplomacy" to keep the Iranians in line. I'm sure that just scares them to death. (I'd stick a 'rolly-eyes' in here if I knew how to do it :)
"Why can't I just eat my waffle?" -- Obama, the next president?
news
July 12, 2008 - 20:09 ET by jaywlCome on, Brent, how many times must you be told: Old news. Today is July 12. That poll was reported July 11 so it had to be really old stuff.
Obama's insincerity is so obvious, even Democrats can see it now
July 12, 2008 - 20:37 ET by garyganuMccain has had several opportunities to challenge Obama and score big points within the last couple of weeks, but as usual, he chose to remain silent.
I think that McCain believes that any criticism of Obama on his part, will be spun by the press as racist, so he remains silent.
This strategy seems to be working because lately Obama has been his own worst enemy. His recent remarks stating that Americans should learn Spanish, while many are functionally illiterate in English, is an example of how he is constantly putting his foot in his mouth. Not only that, but his comment that Americans in Europe are embarrassing because all they can say is "merci, beaucoup", makes it clear that his elitist views about the average American, are heart felt by Obama.
He also said that he himself didn't speak any foreign languages, when in previous interviews he said that he spoke Arabic and a little Spanish.
Also last week Obama softened his position of immediate withdrawal of American troops from Iraq, saying that he will talk to the generals on the ground before deciding on his actions. A sane policy, but a reversal from what he has been saying all along.
It is clear to all that are following Obamas campaign that he has no core values and is pandering to whichever crowd he is playing to at the time. Finally, some Obama supporters are asking themselves: Exactly what does Obama stand for when he says "hope and change"?
As for the democrats that still support him, they realize that he is just saying whatever he thinks is necessary to get elected, and then will revert to the ultra left policies that he has supported all along. Which proves what I have been saying all along. Most liberals believe that "the ends justify the means"., because there are no moral absolutes. To them, truth or lies can just as easily be used as a means to an end, with no shame for deception and dishonesty.
See my blog "The Walk of (no) Shame" with embedded video to see how a liberal thinks. http://garyganu.blogspot.com/2008/06/walk-of-no-shame.html
Incredulity at McCain closing the gap is deserved
July 12, 2008 - 20:59 ET by blogonatorNot even the Republicans like that guy, whereas Obama has been the hottest thing this election in any party.
But about three weeks ago the purveyors of conventional wisdom finally caught up to Obama. "You got to shift right. Time to broaden your appeal for the national audience." Thing is, the Republican party and its ideology has been thoroughly trashed in the mind of the electorate over the last eight years that even though the Democrats have proven themselves outrageously inept since the 2006 election, pretty much the last thing anyone wants is another Republican in the White House. For the Left to see Obama, someone they thought was principled, start to pander was a serious disappointment. If they wanted a panderer, they would have voted for Hillary. Turns out, it didn't matter who they voted for in terms of the final product. And while he may choose to deny it publicly, Obama is reaping the rewards of his flips on telecom immunity and getting out of Iraq in 16 months. His base is becoming disillusioned. If Obama loses in November, you'll be able to trace that loss back to his actions over these last three weeks.
Liberals are such sheep!
July 12, 2008 - 22:30 ET by NL207Liberals are such sheep! Uninformed. Deluded. Opinionated. Arrogant. Wrong!
Liberal political philosophy is rooted in Moral Relativism. Moral Relativism lacks any grounding in absolute definitions of right and wrong. Ethics are interpretted from the point of view of the obeserver or actor. Right and wrong are whichever way the wind blows today. This is contrary to the very laws of the Universe.
Given the lack of solid ethics, are you surprised to discover that Liberal leaders are political hacks and panderers who will say anythig for a vote? Obama is no different. He is a left wing extremist. As long as he spouts his 'hope and change' baloney, saying only what the public wants to hear, all is good. As soon as he makes any statements to define who he really is, his true nature is revealed. While Obama's true leanings make him the darling of the liberal media establishment, his communist views are anathema to the great majority of everyday Americans. The better the electorate gets to know this man, the more they will despise him. Obama is vermin.
I do not like McCain. It will be a dissappointment to me when he is elected in one of the largest landslides in American history. He is a RINO, a liberal in an elephant skin. I pray that he nominates a true conservative as VP, because I think he will die in office. And I pray that any Supreme Court nominations he makes are strict constructionists. I want to sweep away this tyrannical nanny state that has wrought so much harm on me and my family. To me, Obama is just another turd in the punchbowl of tyranny.
ethics
July 12, 2008 - 23:40 ET by cocodrieNL - My late wife was a teacher at a high school. The students were taught what you described here. It was called situation ethics. If you think something is wrong then its wrong for you, if you think its ok then its ok. She had problems because she refused to teach it.
NL207...
July 12, 2008 - 23:46 ET by Clear thinkerWell said!
45 Communist Goals for America http://www.nationmakers.com/com_goals.htm
Good post. I still think
July 13, 2008 - 00:53 ET by SchnikeysGood post. I still think that this election's a toss up, but I could be wrong...
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"It could be the answer to our age-old, philosophical question, 'Why are we here?' PLASTIC!"
I think that one of the
July 13, 2008 - 02:05 ET by jdhawkI think that one of the items that have skewed the polling in McCain's favor are the two candidates stances on energy policy. They couldn't be in starker contrast to each other.
In a recent speech, bambi (aka "Everyone in America should learn to speak Spanish; Merci, beaucoup), proposed several items that he said were his energy policy. They had nothing to to whatever with energy and would not produce one more drop of oil in our country nor reduce our dependence on foreign energy sources one damn bit. As usual, his policies would expand our citizens' dependence on government while expanding government.
bambi is a stupid liberal politician. His policies are the same tired policies that liberals have been atempting to foist on us since FDR.
Immature (Liberal) People Are Always Cocky
July 13, 2008 - 13:29 ET by rammingspeedLiberals and their willing accomplices in the Democrat party were smugly self-assured at this time in 2000 when Al Gore was leading George W. Bush. They were smugly self-assured in '04 when John Kerry was leading George W. Bush (Liberal pundits were wondering who would be on President Kerry's "dream team" cabinet. Perhaps John McCain?)
Once again, they are ridiculously over confident on July 13th of the election year. That's not to predict John McCain's election, it is only to point our how infantile the left is.
I used to alternately laugh and throw up. Now, I can't stay awake while watching election coverage.