Scribbling Monk

Beware of incessant polls touted by the Mainstream Media as indicators of deep, possibly even fatal, flaws in the GOP. Ankle Biting Pundits has a closer look at a Washington Post poll reporting new lows for the GOP and President Bush. It seems the Post didn't report some of the background to the data and analysis. The poll heavily under-sampled Republicans and other key demographics favorable to the party and under-reported those factors.

. . . you really have to wonder why the MSM puts out these polls that bear no resemblance to who will turn out to vote, yet they write stories about the doom about to befall the GOP based on a poll that is given no context in the accompanying stories.

A wise editor I once worked for had a strong predisposition against such polls from wire services, which is how the Post's and other MSM polls get to most Americans. He recognized they were easy to get wrong and hard to verify on deadline with the limited staff of a smaller paper.

There are certainly significant problems in the GOP right now and more than a few disaffected among the party faithful. So why doesn't the MSM conduct a poll to accurately gauge the mood of potential voters? Maybe it's not negative enough for them.