On the August 29 broadcast of The Radio Factor, guest host Michael Smerconish, a Philadelphia radio host, claimed that the “mainstream view of the country right now” is that George W. Bush is “a decent and honest individual” and that the argument that “the president intentionally misled with regard to WMD [weapons of mass destruction]” in Iraq does not “hold water in the minds of many Americans.” In fact, recent polling indicates that approximately half the country would not describe Bush as “honest” and also believes that the Bush administration intentionally misled the public about Iraq's supposed WMDs.

An Associated Press/Ipsos poll conducted August 1-3 asked 1,000 respondents whether or not the word “honest” describes George W. Bush, to which 50 percent responded “no,” with a +/-3.1 percent margin of error. A CNN/USA Today/Gallup poll conducted July 22-24 asked: “Do you think the Bush administration deliberately misled the American public about whether Iraq has weapons of mass destruction, or not?” 51 percent of respondents answered “yes,” with a +/-3 percent margin of error.

From the August 29 broadcast of Westwood One's The Radio Factor with Bill O'Reilly:

SMERCONISH: I've tried to gauge for you what I consider to be the mainstream view of the country right now on this issue. It is, Number 1, that the president is not an evil guy, that in his core, he is a decent and honest individual. I really don't think that any of those arguments that say it was all about oil or that the president intentionally misled with regard to WMD -- I don't think they hold water in the minds of many Americans, who passed judgment on the man and decided he's a good guy.

Smerconish hosts a daily radio program on WPHT-AM in Philadelphia and is a columnist for the Philadelphia Daily News.