The New York Times just won’t learn from statistics
Here’s what the NYT wanted to write today, so it did:
Americans say President Bush does not share the priorities of most of the country on either domestic or foreign issues, are increasingly resistant to his proposal to revamp Social Security and say they are uneasy with Mr. Bush’s ability to make the right decisions about the retirement program, according to the latest New York Times/CBS News poll.
I don’t want to get into the misleading questions — like the one where 69% oppose the overhaul of Social Security “if respondents were told that the private accounts would result in a reduction in guaranteed benefits.” Rather, consider this: the weekend poll is of 1111 adults who disapprove of the way Bush handles foreign policy 46/44, and disapprove in landslide proportions of the way he handles the economy 54/38. Yikes!! This has to be one of the most unpopular presidents of all time.
And it’s not just Bush. The poll has a 44/41 disapproval of Congress as well, and it also registered disapproval in the pre-election poll. This is of course absurd in an election in more than 300 of the 435 House seats were won by over 10 points, and the President’s party actually picked up a few seats in 2004.
Yet these numbers are not much different from those produced by the poll (details here) just prior to election day. Therefore we ask the Times: would it be too much trouble to do a poll of the people who actually matter in the country, i.e., the one who get off their duffs to vote?
Of course that wouldn’t help the New York Times write the story it wants to write, that the American people oppose Bush and all his works. However, it might just help the Times with another annoying statistic. The Times has lost 22% of its circulation in its home market over the last decade. You would think it might want to stem that tide by offering news, rather than opinion, on its news pages.