On the October 21 edition of CNN's Inside Politics, host Judy Woodruff again selectively cited presidential polls that showed President George W. Bush leading the race for the White House. Woodruff reported the results of state polls from New Hampshire, Wisconsin, and Michigan to suggest a significant lead for Bush in all three states -- but other equally recent polls show better results for Senator John Kerry, including, in some cases, a lead.

Woodruff noted that a Mason-Dixon Polling and Research poll conducted October 14-16 shows Bush with a 3% lead in New Hampshire. But Woodruff neglected to mention other recent New Hampshire poll results: a Rasmussen Reports survey completed October 18 shows Kerry two points ahead of Bush, and an American Research Group poll conducted October 16-18 shows Bush leading in New Hampshire by one percentage point.

Woodruff reported the CNN/USA Today/Gallup poll, conducted October 16-19, that gives Bush a six-point lead in Wisconsin. But she did not mention an American Research Group poll conducted October 16-19 that showed the race as even, or a poll conducted by the University of Minnesota's Humphrey Institute October 14-19 that put Bush's lead at one percentage point.

Woodruff noted that, according to a Detroit News poll conducted October 18-19, Bush has a four-point lead in Michigan. But she did not report Kerry's three-point lead in a Rasmussen poll concluded on October 19 or his seven-point lead in a Zogby poll completed on October 19; both these polls are available on the presidential election tracking website Electoral Vote Predictor 2004.

As Media Matters for America has noted, Woodruff selectively cited national polls on October 18 in order to bolster her assertion that “the polls seem to be moving in President Bush's favor.” In recent days, CNN has repeatedly favored Bush by excluding polls favorable to Kerry (see here and here).