On the October 12 edition of Fox News' Hannity & Colmes, co-host Sean Hannity falsely claimed that two recent polls showing that Democrats are favored by the public over Republicans on a variety of issues “outpolled Democrats by 16 percentage points more than the Republicans, so they're pretty skewed.” Hannity, who made the comment during a discussion with conservative radio host Michael Reagan and Democratic strategist Bob Beckel, did not specify the polls to which he was referring, but earlier in the show, co-host Alan Colmes cited a Newsweek poll conducted October 5-6 showing that on “every single issue, Democrats outpoll Republicans.” Contrary to Hannity's claim, in none of the major recent public opinion polls did the sample include “16 percentage points” more self-identified Democrats than Republicans, including the Newsweek poll, in which 33 percent of respondents identified themselves as Democrats while 29 percent identified themselves as Republicans; that poll showed that when respondents were asked whether they favored an unnamed Democrat or an unnamed Republican in the upcoming midterm elections, they favored the Democratic candidate 51 percent to 39 percent.

The other recent polls showing Democrats with an advantage over Republicans include:

A CBS News/New York Times poll, conducted October 5-8, polled 35 percent Democrats, 30 percent Republicans; Democratic candidates were favored by 14 percentage points, 49 to 35.

An ABC News/Washington Post poll, conducted October 5-8, polled 38 percent Democrats, 27 percent Republicans; Democratic candidates were favored by 13 percentage points, 54 to 41.

A Cook Political Report poll, conducted October 5-8, polled 33 percent Democrats, 33 percent Republicans; Democratic candidates were favored by 11 percentage points, 49 to 38.

A Fox News poll, conducted October 10-11, polled 38 percent Democrats, 34 percent Republicans; Democratic candidates were favored by 9 percentage points, 50 to 41.

In addition, two others polls -- released by CNN/Gallup and USA Today, each conducted October 6-8 -- do not include party affiliation figures for respondents. The CNN/Gallup poll showed Democrats with a 21-percentage point advantage, 58 to 37, while USA Today's poll showed Democrats favored by 23 percentage points, 59 to 36.

From the October 12 edition of Fox News' Hannity & Colmes:

COLMES: On every single issue, Michael, on every single issue, Republicans are outpolled by Democrats: on the economy, and even now in the war on terror. The latest Newsweek poll shows that, on moral values, 42 to 36 percent. On every single issue, Democrats outpoll Republicans. Are people just stupid?

REAGAN: No, liberals are stupid.

COLMES: Oh, liberals are stupid. This is your respect for the other side. So these are all liberals who responded to this poll, all of whom are stupid. This is your respect for the half of the American people.

REAGAN: Listen, Alan, if you're an American, you're sitting home at night, and you turn on that 29-inch peephole into paradise, all you get is negativity about this president. You don't get anything positive about the president.

COLMES: Things are negative about Pelosi.

[crosstalk]

BECKEL: People would rather have a Speaker Pelosi than a Speaker Hastert. It's as simple as that.

[crosstalk]

HANNITY: The only thing is, most people don't know how extreme she is, but we've got 26 days to inform people. And, by the way, two of those polls, they outpolled Democrats by 16 percentage points more than the Republicans, so they're pretty skewed.

BECKEL: Dream on, baby.

HANNITY: But good to see you, especially you, Bob Beckel.

COLMES: Blame the poll. Blame the poll.

BECKEL: Dream on. Good luck.