MSNBC's Roberts Tags Ryan As 'Conductor' of Congressional Train; Erroneously Says Americans Widely Prefer Democrats

Rep. Paul Ryan (R-Wis.) will be problematic for Romney as his running mate because "he's been one of the major conductors of the train in Washington, D.C.," Thomas Roberts insisted in an interview on Monday with Republican National Committee communications director Sean Spicer. The MSNBC anchor also falsely charged that "the polls show that Republicans in Washington are far less popular than the Democrats" and used that assertion to wonder "how does he discount his own record" and appeal to "independents especially, who are just getting tuned into the election."

But as Real Clear Politics notes, congressional Republicans presently have a 0.6 percentage point advantage in its average of polls on generic congressional party approval. What's more, the most recent poll in the average shows the GOP with a two percentage point advantage. The last time Democrats had an advantage in the polling was early July, a 3-point edge in the Quinnipiac poll, but even so, that was still a 43-40 split, hardly evidence that congressional Republicans are "far less popular."

What's more, it's the Democratic Senate that has failed to produce a budget plan and has slammed the brakes on dealing with long-term budget and entitlements issues. Rep. Ryan's budget plan addressed the long-term insolvency of Medicare and was a blueprint for the next few years for government spending. It may be a plan that MSNBC's liberal anchors and reporters don't like, but it is an actual legislative blueprint.

Additionally, during the first half of President Obama's term, the Democrat-controlled congressional train barreled down the tracks with ObamaCare, which most voters now wish to repeal, including significant numbers of political independents.

So for Roberts to take congressional disapproval and insist it's disapproval of Republicans alone is a leap of logic unsupported by the polling data.