'Groundhog Day,' Today-Show Style: Get Up, Go to Studio, Exult in W's Bad Poll Numbers

Is the Today show stuck in a time warp? Could Today be trying to stem its dipping ratings by doing a reality-show version of 'Groundhog Day,' the hit movie in which every day was the same for Bill Murray?

Well, we didn't hear Cher singing "I Got You Babe" in the background, as she did when the alarm would go off for Murray, but other than that, there was an eery resemblance.

Readers might want to check my blog. They'll find that the very last entry was entitled "Today Show Revels in Prez' Polls."

Well guess what? Different day, same . . . stuff.

There was Katie Couric at her post, once again interviewing Tim Russert.

And once again, the topic was the latest round of poll numbers. The screen legend read "The President's Plunging Poll Numbers."

"Plunging"? Wait a second. Last time, W's approval rating was 41%, and this time it is . . . 40%. Is a drop-off of 1% a "plunge"? Guess so, if you're NBC, trying to add fuel to the fire.

In any case, Katie reveled in comparing that number to W's rating of 88% right after 9/11. "It's quite dramatic, isn't it?" asked Katie.

Couric's barely suppressed glee makes one retrospectively realize what a bitter pill W's popularity in the aftermath of 9/11 must have been for her and her MSM buddies to swallow .

When Katie turned to the 'right track/wrong track' numbers, she announced that the 'right track' was at only 32%. Oddly, the screen graphic showed the number to be 40%. Could Katie have been reading from next week's numbers? ;-)

Then it was on to the racial divide, in which only 30% of whites but 70% of blacks think the response would have been faster if the disaster had occured in a predominantly white area. If Kennebunkport had been hit rather than New Orleans, on the day of the storm would Norman Schwarzkopf somehow have been FEMA head rather than Mike Brown?

Drawing the Iraq connection, Couric observed: "We should mention that it was one of the deadliest days in Iraq since the war started yesterday with 177 killed . . . so this was terrible news compounding the President's difficulties."

There's an old golf tournament maxim: every shot makes somebody happy. Same thing for the news. All the shots W is currently absorbing make Katie & Co. very happy indeed.

Finkelstein has degrees from Cornell University and Harvard Law
School.He lives in Ithaca, NY where he hosts "Right Angle," a local
political talk show. Finkelstein specializes in exposing liberal bias
at NBC's Today Show.