On Tuesday, CBS News senior White House correspondent Ed O’Keefe desperately tried to put a positive spin on his network’s latest abysmal polling for President Biden by claiming that Americans would give the flailing Democrat “credit” for trying to force through doomed voting legislation. However, the glaring problem with that analysis was that only 24 hours earlier O’Keefe cited the exact same poll showing the public wanted Biden to drop the partisan effort in favor of focusing on combating COVID and skyrocketing inflation.
“Now you might be wondering, why is the President focused on this issue if defeat is almost completely certain?,” O’Keefe posed as he wrapped up a Tuesday report on Democrats in Congress still trying to push through a federal takeover of elections despite not having the votes for it to pass. The reporter interpreted the polling data this way:
Well, take a look at this new CBS News poll. We asked Americans, is the Biden administration focused too much, just about enough, or not enough on the issue of voting rights and access? It turns out one-third say the Biden administration’s focused on the issue about the right amount, four in ten say he’s not focused on it enough.
When one combines those who said the President was focused “too much” on the voting bills (25%) and those who said he focused the “right amount” (34%), the total was 59% of Americans not wanting Biden to focus more on the issue. That compared to only 41% saying there was “not enough” focus by the administration on voting measures.
Even so, O’Keefe concluded: “That’s a sign that even in the face of defeat, Americans are going to give him credit for at least trying.”
Of course that declaration flew directly in the face of what O’Keefe told viewers on Monday’s morning show. At that time – while citing the exact same CBS News poll – O’Keefe highlighted disapproval of Biden’s handling of the pandemic and the economy before asking: “So how could the President turn things around?”
Based on the survey data, the correspondent offered this assessment:
Well, based on our poll, Americans say it’s by focusing more on inflation and less on new legislation. Among those who disapprove of the President, more than six in ten of them say opinions of him would improve if Mr. Biden is able to get inflation down. That’s more than double the number who say they’d think better of him if the President’s social spending plan is passed or if Democrats pass new voting rights bills.
So which is it? If the public wants Biden to stop wasting time on his doomed radical voting agenda and focus on more important issues, then how could Americans possibly give the President “credit for at least trying” to push legislation they don’t want?
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Here are transcripts of the January 18 and 17 analysis:
01/18/22
7:14 AM ET(...)
ED O’KEEFE: Now you might be wondering, why is the President focused on this issue if defeat is almost completely certain? Well, take a look at this new CBS News poll. We asked Americans, is the Biden administration focused too much, just about enough, or not enough on the issue of voting rights and access? It turns out one-third say the Biden administration’s focused on the issue about the right amount, four in ten say he’s not focused on it enough. That’s a sign that even in the face of defeat, Americans are going to give him credit for at least trying. Tony?
TONY DOKOUPIL: Yeah, that’s a reason to get on the record.
(...)
01/17/22
7:13 AM ET(...)
ED O’KEEFE: But a new CBS News poll finds a little more than a third of Americans think attempts to contain the virus are going well, and a growing number of people say information about the pandemic shared by officials is confusing.
(...)
O’KEEFE: Another challenge for the President, most disapprove of how he’s handling the economy and inflation.(...)
O’KEEFE: So how could the President turn things around? Well, based on our poll, Americans say it’s by focusing more on inflation and less on new legislation. Among those who disapprove of the President, more than six in ten of them say opinions of him would improve if Mr. Biden is able to get inflation down. That’s more than double the number who say they’d think better of him if the President’s social spending plan is passed or if Democrats pass new voting rights bills. Democrats are going to try to do that later this week, but of course they’re expected to face Republican opposition.
(...)
