Angle selectively quoted polling data to assert "numbers look just as bad, if not worse, for some prominent Democrats" than for Bush
SUMMARY: Fox News' Jim Angle misleadingly compared Bush's "approval rating" in a recent New York Times/CBS News poll to the "favorability rating[s]" of Sens. John Kerry and Hillary Rodham Clinton, noting that, while 31 percent of respondents approve of President Bush's job performance, just 26 percent hold a favorable view of Kerry and 34 percent hold a favorable view of Clinton. Angle neglected to mention that 55 percent of respondents view Bush unfavorably.
On the May 13 edition of Fox News' Special Report with Brit Hume, chief Washington correspondent Jim Angle selectively cited and distorted a May 4-8 New York Times/CBS News poll that found President Bush's approval rating falling to 31 percent to assert that "the numbers look just as bad, if not worse, for some prominent Democrats." Angle misleadingly compared Bush's "approval rating" in the poll to the "favorability rating[s]" of Sens. John Kerry (D-MA) and Hillary Rodham Clinton (D-NY), noting that, while 31 percent of respondents approve of Bush's job performance, just 26 percent hold a favorable view of Kerry and 34 percent hold a favorable view of Clinton. Although Bush's approval rating is at 31 percent, the poll found that his favorability rating stands at 29 percent. Moreover, while Angle noted that 38 percent of respondents hold an unfavorable view of Kerry and 35 percent view Clinton unfavorably, he neglected to mention that 55 percent have an unfavorable view of Bush.
From The New York Times/CBS News poll:
PRESIDENTIAL JOB APPROVAL
|
Approve |
31 |
|
Disapprove |
63 |
VIEWS OF ...
|
Favorable |
Unfavorable |
Undecided/no opinion | |
|
Hillary Clinton |
34 |
35 |
32 |
|
John Kerry |
26 |
38 |
34 |
|
George W. Bush |
29 |
55 |
16 |
From Fox News' Special
Report with Brit Hume:
ANGLE: A new Harris poll puts the president's job approval rating at 29 percent -- the lowest number of his presidency. The low approval caps a week of negative polls for the president, but the numbers look just as bad, if not worse, for some prominent Democrats. While a New York Times poll released earlier this week found that 31 percent of Americans approve of the president, just 26 percent hold a favorable view of 2004 Democratic presidential nominee John Kerry while 38 percent have an unfavorable opinion; and 34 percent of Americans have a favorable opinion of New York Senator Hillary Clinton compared to 35 percent who view her unfavorably.
There's a "Fair and Balanced" look at the numbers if ever I saw one. Truth is--if you've gotta sell yourself as fair and balanced, it must be in question.
A network constantly professing it's "Fair and Balanced" approach all the time is remeniscent of "Methinks the lady protests too much."
The first lady giving an interview at FOX and saying that the media is fond to play with numbers. Those are easy ways to marginalize polls: just blame the democrats or the messenger (the media).
Apparently Americans are missing the Clinton , he's current approval rating for his performance in office exceeds GWs on EVERYTHING including taxes and national security. They once did a scit on SNL when the 2000 presidential court battle was in process. David Hammong playing Clinton said why don't they just let me stay in office these guys are only going to screw up what I made good. In addition Will Ferrell playing GW Bush in another skit said the first thing I'm going to do when I'm president is "start me a war, cause that's like executing supersized". I think of those skits and it's eery.
I meant HIS and SKIT.
Clinton and Kerry are not national leaders and on a national basis we haven't elected them so why compare their ratings to Bush's. It doesn't say much for Bush that Fox has to go out and look for other people with bad poll numbers to prop up Bush. Is this Rove's work? Even Mrs. Bush is out stomping for her husband.