Where are the Swing States?
Reported by Ellen - October 21, 2004 -
The latest FOX News poll report by Dana Blanton trumpets Bush's widening lead yet by its own admission does not include poll numbers that could decide the race. You have to go down to the tenth paragraph (where, I suspect, FOX hopes you'll miss it), to find out that Opinion Dynamics (FOX's polling partner) President John Gorman stated, "One odd factor is that much of the lead is concentrated in the so-called 'red states' which were pretty much conceded to Bush at the beginning. Thus his national lead does not reflect a big lead in the battleground states that will decide the election."
In other words, the lead that FOX is crowing about may very well not translate into electoral victory for Bush. Then why not include polling for the swing states? Prior polls did.
But wait, there's more bias to be found in the next paragraph. Bush's overall job approval rating is "down a few ticks this week." In fact, his job approval ratings sank 4% in two weeks, a noteworthy drop that FOX sugarcoats in the same paragraph, under the heading, "Better Job on the Issues." "Two weeks ago President Bush had a 53 percent approval rating, which was his highest in seven months. While the president receives remarkably high approval from Republicans (92 percent), a high number of Democrats disapprove (85 percent), with independents more divided (49 percent approve, 41 percent disapprove)."
In typical FOX-fashion, Blanton immediately follows this minimized bad-for-Bush news with optimized good-for-Bush news. "When the candidates are rated on the top issues, Bush soundly beats Kerry on handling the war on terrorism and also has the clear edge on handling the situation in Iraq. Kerry is seen as the candidate who would do a better job on health care and the economy. While Kerry still has the advantage on these domestic issues, Bush has improved his standing in these areas."
Bush "soundly beats Kerry," Kerry "is seen as the candidate who would do a better job..."
Comment: If Kerry wins the election, I almost expect the FOXNews.com article to report, "Bush routs Kerry in Texas while Kerry squeaks by with electoral college win."
