Sunday, September 07, 2008

Latest Zogby Poll: Shading the Truth

Just in, the latest Zogby Poll shows a distinct McCain bounce after the Republican convention. But let the Zogby website posting (Sept. 6, 2008) tell it their way:

Zogby Poll: Republicans Hold Small Post-Convention Edge

But the race is tight, as both campaigns consolidate support

UTICA, New York - Republicans John McCain and Sarah Palin left St. Paul, Minnesota, with a smallish bounce overall and some energy in key demographic groups, as the race for the presidency enters a key stage and voters begin to tune in to the contest, the latest Zogby Interactive poll finds.

Reading the tables below this verbiage tells us that as of this latest sampling, McCain-Palin now has a 4 percentage point lead over Obama-Biden.

You need to watch the language in this kind of story. First, Zogby is a Democrat and his polls tend to skew Democrat. Rasmussen, like him or not, tends to be the most accurate pollster and his post-convention numbers aren't in yet. (Update: Now they are. Based on a rolling average, which now takes in the day after Palin's speech, Rasmussen has the two tickets tied at 46%. Results following McCain's own speech are not yet in.)

Zogby and his people, probably surprised and disturbed by the McCain bounce's substance (remember--McCain's announcement of Sarah Palin as his running mate did succeed in limiting Obama's post-coronation bounce), diminishes it verbally in the head and sub-head by minimizing the bounce as a "small post convention edge" in a "tight" race.

Were the 4 point lead Obama's, the headline would have been something like "Obama Opens Big Lead," or "Obama's Post-Convention Lead Substantial." Again, for the same numbers.

Look for this again and again in polling coverage. No matter what kind of lead the Repubs might gain, it will always be denigrated or minimized in the verbiage. On the contrary, if the lead belongs to the Dems, it will be touted as the Second Coming.

Why is this done? Once again, it's the Socialist control of the narrative. The Republicans will simply be giving failing grades and zero points for any success. The usual way this is done is via headlines that inaccurately describe or slant the numerical facts. This has been done to Bush constantly and particularly during that past two years where polls describe Bush's "historically low" approval ratings (similar, however, to Harry Truman's) while failing to recognize that the Democrat-controlled Congress' ratings are SUBSTANTIALLY BELOW THAT.

The average newspaper reader (a dwindling breed), when pressed for time, grabs just the headlines and rarely reads further as the day winds on. Thus, headlines that inaccurately describe true poll findings are an easy way to lead readers right past the truth and right in to the usual Democrat talking points. It's clever, but dishonest, and is another reason why the MSM is losing its grip as more and more readers figure this stuff out and cancel their subscriptions.

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