I Don't Believe The Right Wing Polls!

Back in the '90s, when "Crossfire" was still on CNN and annoying us all from the left and the right, John Sununu, fresh from his secure phones at the Bush I White House, blamed the rising fortunes of Bill Clinton and Ross Perot on the usual conservative suspect:  the liberal media.  He even reduced his contempt to the level of a T-shirt, one that he actually wore one time on the show.  Its slogan:  "I DON'T BELIEVE THE LIBERAL MEDIA."

The question of how liberal the media are or are not is beyond the scope of this post; indeed, it's spawned its own cottage industry in the book world.  Personally, I have always adhered to the view, articulated by a wise person whose identity I have forgotten, that freedom of the press belongs to those who own one.  And the majority of those owners have always been conservative.  In fact, in the age of Murdoch and consolidation (I'm not sure that I'm not repeating myself there), it's even more so that way.  Thankfully, the Internet allows me and many others to provide a counterweight.

But that hasn't stopped the right-wing MSM and its best friends, the right-wing pollsters (yes, Scott, I'm talking about you) from trying to game the political system as much as they can.  Take a look at this.  Charles Blow's column is almost routinely a good read, and I wholeheartedly agree with his conclusion:  that the left will win, because the left has better ideas.  But the polls he cites to support of his expectation of pain this fall for Democrats and their supporters defy rational belief.  A plurality in favor of offshore drilling, in the wake of the BP disaster in the Gulf?  I don't believe it.  And, frankly, after Tuesday's special election in the 12th Congressional District, in which the 1-point poll lead by the Republican candidate faded into an 8-point loss to his Democratic opponent, I doubt that I'll be believing it anytime soon.

Maybe the people are wising up.  Maybe they're not taking as long as they once did to catch up to liberals with the truth.  And maybe, just maybe, the right-wing media cabal is beginning to realize this, and is engineering its polls to its own perceived advantage.  (Still listening, Scott?  Good--because I'm still talking about you.  Especially since you expect us to believe that the not-ready-for-prime-time Rand Paul has a 25% (!) lead in the Kentucky Senate race.

All together, everyone.  Say it with me.  In fact, SHOUT it with me:

"I DON'T BELIEVE THE RIGHT-WING POLLS!"