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Wash. Times' Tyrrell adopts Andrew Malcolm's misleading Obama/Palin poll claim

December 11, 2009 8:50 am ET by Media Matters staff

From R. Emmett Tyrrell's December 11 Washington Times column:

Do my eyes deceive me? Did I really see President Obama this week calling for a vast increase in government spending?

He is promising to "spend our way out of this recession." He plans to build highways and bridges. There will be tax cuts for small businesses. There will be tax incentives for making our homes more energy-efficient. Economic stimulus will be extended for unemployment insurance. Checks for $250 will be sent to senior citizens and veterans. More money will be sent to state and local governments so they will not have to lay off teachers, firefighters and police. It is estimated that the president's eruption of generosity will cost an additional $170 billion, perhaps more.

[...]

About the time the president announced that this nation, which is "out of money," is going to "spend our way out of this recession," the Gallup Poll spoke. According to the poll, the president's approval rating is lower than that of any of his predecessors at this point in their presidencies, and few came in with Mr. Obama's high favorable ratings. Today he polls at 47 percent, down from 53 percent last month. A wit at the Los Angeles Times notes that the pulchritudinous former Gov. Sarah Palin of Alaska is within a point of the president in popularity.

Previously:

LA Times' Malcolm again tries -- and fails -- to claim Palin nearly as popular as Obama

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    • Author by nerzog (December 11, 2009 9:19 am ET)
      1  
      Pulchritudinous? Simple Sarah?

      I must admit; the first time I saw her, I thought she was "pulchritudinous". But, now that I know more about her, the word that comes to mind is "putrid".
      Report Abuse
    • Author by pros2pros2940 (December 11, 2009 9:21 am ET)
      1  
      Yeah......this is kind of like comparing a backup quarterback to a struggling starter where the fans clamor for the backup.

      That is until the backup gets in the game and is worse than the starter.
      Report Abuse
      • Author by nerzog (December 11, 2009 9:32 am ET)
        3  
        To take your analogy even further, it's like replacing the quarterback with one of the cheerleaders.
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    • Author by shaggles (December 11, 2009 11:29 am ET)
         
      Weird. When the Reps were in charge tax incentives and rebates weren't spending. But that's beside the point. Most economists agree that spending is the way to get out of a recession.
      Report Abuse
    • Author by rwmacdonald2091 (December 11, 2009 12:19 pm ET)
         
      If I remember correctly old GWB was doing pretty poorly at the polls early on. The only thing that helped him 9/11. Wonder what his numbers would have been if 9/11 didn't happen?

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    • Author by political_left-religious_right (December 11, 2009 3:24 pm ET)
         
      A wit at the Los Angeles Times

      Well, he got it half right.
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