Apparently, the MSNBC political analyst is under the impression that Sarah Palin’s selection as Vice President drove down female support for the John McCain ticket – and claims that polling numbers back him up.
The Gallup organization, for one, disagrees.
From the July 29 edition of “Morning Joe”, during a discussion of Sarah Palin’s 2008 speech at the Republican convention:
LAWRENCE O’DONNELL: This is what people ignore, a very important polling point. Female support for the Republican ticket went down in the first month that she was on that ticket. Everybody ignores that and just said, wow, the crowd in the hall really loved the speech. America didn't, because –First, a reminder of the timeline involved in the Palin pick. Sarah Palin was announced as McCain’s running mate on August 29, 2008. The weekly poll numbers from Gallup in the four weeks prior to the week of August 29 were as follows:
MARTIN SAVIDGE: The crowd in the hall loved the speech, media loved the speech. That speech got tremendous coverage.
July 28 – August 3: 39% support from women.In fact, female support for the McCain ticket going back through the second week of June holds steadily between 37-39%.
August 4 – 10: 36% support from women.
August 11 – 17: 39% support from women.
August 18 – 24: 41% support from women.
Now, what happened after Sarah Palin was picked?
August 25 – 31: 39% support from women.
September 1 – 7: 42% support from women.
September 8 – 14: 43% support from women.
September 15 – 21: 40% support from women.
The subsequent weeks weigh in at a repeating number of 39% support from women until the last two weeks of the campaign, which rendered a number of 38% support from women. So what you see there is, just like the rest of America, there was a convention bounce among women. After this month-long surge of support, women reverted to their normal levels of support for the McCain ticket.
One almost feels sorry for O’Donnell’s inability to read polling data without liberal spin.
Almost.
This, however, isn’t the only bit of factually incorrect pompous punditry from O’Donnell. Earlier in the same segment, he pontificated on Sarah Palin’s political future:
There is no mystery to her political future. We have settled history on this. When you lose as the vice presidential candidate in America, your career is over, it's done. In the television age, not one person who has lost in the vice presidential slot has ever achieved anything again in politics, not one.
That might be news to people who actually read history, such as NewsBusters tipster Chris Bennett. Bennett helpfully pointed out that Joe Lieberman, in addition to serving as a senator for nine years after his failed VP run, currently serves as the Chairman of the Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs committee – and was given a prime speaking spot at the Republican Convention, and was purportedly John McCain’s personal first choice for Vice President.
If that’s not your particular cup of tea, Bennett also mentioned Bob Dole – who ran for Vice President on the failed ticket of Gerald Ford, circa 1976. Bob Dole then went on to lead Senate Agriculture Committee, was the ranking Republican on the Finance Committee, was both the Majority Leader and the Minority leader in the United States Senate, and won his party’s nomination for a presidential run in 1996.
Neither of those sounds like a lack of achievement. O’Donnell, it would seem, has as firm a grasp on recent history as he does on recent polling data.



















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You can't make me believe
July 29, 2009 - 12:32 ET by Paul Atreideshe isn't related to Rosie, because they are both insane.
Making Stuff up
July 29, 2009 - 12:44 ET by CarlosSGovernor Palin was right in her farewell speech..., they just make stuff up
OMG throw EVERYTHING at the
July 29, 2009 - 15:38 ET by TruthMongerOMG throw EVERYTHING at the wall NOW!!!
SOMETHING might stick
fear of Sarah is the beginning of wisdom...
Palin/Prejean 2012
Moonbattery
July 29, 2009 - 12:47 ET by slickwillie2001I believe Lawrence O'Donnell is seriously wacked; I mean going-postal crazy. I wouldn't want to be in the same building with this guy, let alone a tv studio.
O'Donnell seriously wacked
July 29, 2009 - 12:55 ET by SickofLibsOh yeah, watch him on one of his tirades, he's got a bunch of screws loose for real. At least Olbermann, despite being a total liar and hateful bastard, comes across more as just a bad actor.
Plus he has no visible lips, which I find disturbing - his mouth is more like, well, an orifice.
Larry O'Donnell
July 29, 2009 - 12:48 ET by Darwin AkbarA few weeks ago, Hugh Hewitt exposed Lame Larry as a boob by asking Larry to back up his claim that "we'd prosecuted people for waterboarding before!" It turned out, of course, that Larry had no knowledge of any such prosecutions and had only heard about it from some lefty blog. Larry tried to "google" it during their conversation and the best he could come up with was some vague Wikipedia entry. Hewitt then got Larry to admit that Larry had read almost no books on the war on terror or Islamism....not "The Looming Tower," nothing by Bernard Lewis....and that the best he could come up with was something by Woodward or Bernstein (is there any difference?).
However, Larry, like so many other liberals, is shameless and wears his ignorance like a badge of honor.
Palin sends these liars
July 29, 2009 - 13:00 ET by mattmPalin sends these liars into fits of insanity and rage. I'd support her as president for that reason alone.
Lawrence
July 29, 2009 - 13:02 ET by okiehawk44Has anyone at anytime actually seen Lawrence O'Donnell smile? Do you have it on video, 'cause I'm pretty cynical about him?
No, you need lips to smile
July 29, 2009 - 14:17 ET by SickofLibsLD's tight, lipless mouth is physiologically identical to an anus, and as far as I know, anuses cannot smile.
The best he can muster is a gape.
Well, Duh!
July 29, 2009 - 13:55 ET by Junk Science SkepticMcCain was the media's hand-picked candidate for the GOP ticket, so his election results couldn't be his fault, it had to be Palin's fault.
Without Palin, McCain would have lost by at least 10-15 percentage points.
So tell me, are the conservatives, moderates and the GOP going to let the media pick the wedge issues to drive them all apart again in 2010 and 2012?
Stop Funding Leftist Propaganda - Boycott GE & Disney
"settled history"
July 29, 2009 - 16:51 ET by BO STINKS...'settled history' must be like 'settled science' for the warmers: no truth, but it fits into your political agenda.
Keep driving the mentally ill round the bend, Sarah!
"The preservation of the sacred faith of liberty & the destiny of the republican model of gov't. are justly considered deeply...finally, staked on the experiment entrusted to the American people."G. Washington's 1st inaugural address
“Settled history” is Liberalese for agreed-upon disinformation.
July 29, 2009 - 20:38 ET by needle- Relying upon the State Run Media for your information is like relying upon an embezzler to manage your portfolio.
According to Lawrence
July 29, 2009 - 18:28 ET by ThisnThatAccording to Lawrence O’Donnell, MSNBC's ratings have soared ever since Fox News went on the air in 1996. And Obermann is beating O'Reilly by a factor of 8:1 in the 8:00pm time slot. At any time of the day, MSNBC can count on 1,345,632,932 viewers tuned in.
How do I know he's right? Because Lawrence O’Donnell defines credibility, competance, and extreme skill at everything he does. His resume states he has 3 Nobel prizes in honesty, and 2 such awards in math -- his specialty is statistics.
You can read Lawrence O’Donnell's column every morning. You don't need a newspaper -- just think it, that's how powerful this man is. I don't know about you, but I hang on each and every word coming out of this man's mouth. Don't you feel the tingle?
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Maybe this isn't going to help. Maybe you're better off not having this surgery but taking the painkiller - Obamacare
TnT... You've got me
July 29, 2009 - 18:38 ET by bigtimerTnT...
You've got me roaring with laughter.
I heard some of his BS this a.m., I also clicked it not long after...I can't stand him, no matter the subject he is blathering about with his typical leftist tripe.
I remember when he was banned for awhile, heck, like all leftists...they always reappear as some kind of wonderful.
Doubling down on stupid is not a particularly good idea. ~Andrew Breitbart
MSNBC Employs Lunatics
July 29, 2009 - 20:34 ET by RogerCfromSDAnything that comes out of that network is absolutely nonsensical, untrue, and partisan.
Its talking heads themselves sound like deranged party hacks.
It's a network that parodies itself.
A nation cannot be free without a free, unbiased media. We are not free.
Lawrence O'Donnell is a Cerifiable Nutjob!
July 30, 2009 - 03:54 ET by kegan97478kegan97478
Good grief, this doofus has had several total meltdowns on National TV over the years. He is nuts! I will be sure to vote for Sarah Palin just to see his head explode.
July 30, 2009 - 08:27 ET by jessieHPMSNBC is still on Palin? They just can't help themselves.