Polling by Pole Cats

[Daveparts]

Polling by Pole Cats
By David Glenn Cox





Well, what do you think?

“I hate it, I hate everything about it.”

Me too, we’ll take it!

Why do we accept that? We wouldn’t buy a car we didn’t like or a meal in a restaurant but we let ourselves be foisted into supporting a political campaign we don’t like. But like mother buying us new school clothes the media says try this on you’ll like it if you’ll only just try it.

A CBS News poll asked, "From what you know about the U.S. involvement in Iraq, how much longer would you be willing to have large numbers of U.S. troops remain in Iraq? 49% favored one year or less only 12% of all adults Republican and Democrats favored two to five years.

But the Republican candidates all favor long term involvement with the exception of Ron Paul. The media anointed Democrats won’t commit to having troops out before the end of their first term. Mike Gravel and Dennis Kucinich stand with Ron Paul and 49% of the American electorate and call for immediate withdrawal. Strange isn’t it? The three candidates that who most represent the wishes of the American electorate don’t poll combined what the media anointed front runner polls.

The media is telling us we hate it but we love it! A CNN poll asked, "Which political party -- the Democrats or the Republicans -- do you trust to do a better job handling the situation in Iraq?" 19% answered neither with 5% saying not sure, 24% of the electorate doesn’t have faith that either party can handle the job.

Rep. Ron Paul has consistently trounced his opponents in network sponsored polls held after the Republican debates. After the CNBC poll had Ron Paul at 75% after 7,000 votes CNBC decided to take it down. But the network loves polls how would we know that Hillary is ahead of Obama without network polls?

Speaking for CNBC Allen Wastler explained, You guys are good. Real good. You are truly a force on World Wide Web and I tip my hat to you.

That’s based on my first hand experience of your work regarding our CNBC Republican candidate debate. After the debate, we put up a poll on our Web site asking who readers thought won the debate. You guys flooded it.

Now these Internet polls are admittedly unscientific and subject to hacking. In the end, they are really just a way to engage the reader and take a quick temperature reading of your audience. Nothing more and nothing less. The cyber equivalent of asking the room for a show of hands on a certain question.

You guys? How did they become just you guys from loyal viewers? But Wastler was quick to explain, “Now Paul is a fine gentleman with some substantial backing and, by the way, was a dynamic presence throughout the debate , but I haven’t seen him pull those kind of numbers in any “legit” poll. Our poll was either hacked or the target of a campaign. So we took the poll down.” CNBC never proved or attempted to prove any hacking or impropriety, their word should be enough for us.

A GOP straw poll has Paul in the lead with 32% in a poll with twelve candiates listed. More than double Romney’s 13.8% with Giuliani at an anemic 6.9% and which Republican candidate raised the most money in the last quarter? Ron Paul, although I’m sure the corporate networks would contend the results were hacked.

I’m not a Paul supporter but I resent the media manipulating the political races for their corporate masters. I only point out Ron Paul because it is harder for the media to discount him and ignore him in the face of a hideous Republican field. None of them has caught fire with the public in fact the opposite is true. Fred Thompson’s numbers began to decline as soon as he entered the race. The media had hoped Thompson's celebrity status would be the bright shiny object for the public to play with. But Thompson has been called many things but never bright.

His old nemeses soon emerged, his mouth and his lack of intelligence leaving voters to ponder, “Well he’s no dumber than the rest of them.”

A CBS news poll focused on healthcare asked, does the US healthcare system need minor changes? Fundamental Changes? Or does it need to be completely rebuilt? Only 8% said minor changes 54% responded fundamental changes and 36% said completely rebuilt. The Republican candidates Ron Paul included won’t do anything about healthcare. This one is left solely to the Democrats and what is the media anointed front runner’s plan? Why to patch and fix the current system of course.

The answer is an obvious clue the more income you make the happier you are with the healthcare system. Hillary stands tall with 8% of Americans ignoring the 90% who say we need major or total renovation. Dennis Kucincih has for years repeatedly called for a single payer healthcare system exactly the type of reform the public seems to be calling for.

But what have we learned from Mr. Wastler? “Now these Internet polls are admittedly unscientific and subject to hacking.” So when CBS asked the question Who do you have the most confidence in handling health care? The choices were Clinton, Edwards or Obama. The network precluded the sticky problem of what to do with answers they don’t want by not including any views other than corporate. Do you want vanilla ice cream? Double vanilla ice cream? Our ice cream with vanilla flavoring?

Something is funny is going on here all right, the candidates in both parties don’t match the views of the American public. The current President is the most despised resident in American history and in 2006 the public voted for change and what we got was a different song same results. By a wide plurality the American public wants out of Iraq and health care reform. But the media says, no, no you don’t, you want to withdraw slowly and only after the oils safe, err, it’s safe enough to bring the troops home. And you don’t want health care reform you want slight alterations to the current system. You want to support the candidates whose views most closely resemble those of President Bush.

The game is fixed and if the game is fixed then it’s not a game but a scam. Who’s picking the candidates? Who’s views do the so called front runners reflect? Where are the candidates in the polls that most reflect the views of the electorate? The Edward’s camp complains the Clinton campaign behaves as if they’ve already won the nomination. Sorry Johnny, but she has, the polls have told us so.