A message for Chad Schuldt, the South Dakota King of using biased polls:
The media is in full orgasm today. We have a Washington Post poll; we have an AP poll. Both show that Bush is just in horrible shape, according to the polls. "Public support now has eroded to its lowest level yet, with the Iraq war dragging on, a top White House aide facing felony charges, and the White House rushing to replace a failed Supreme Court nominee. Concerned that the president's lost his footing, some Republicans have suggested that President Bush should shake up his staff. A new AP/Ipsos poll found the president's approval rating was at 37% compared with only 39% a month ago, about 59 of those surveyed said that they disapproved, and the intensity of disapproval is the strongest to date, with 42% now saying they strongly disapprove of how Bush is handling the job." Now, folks, we've had a CBS poll out this week, and we know that the sample in that poll was really skewed and 25% Republicans, 35% Democrats, and interestingly found a 35% approval rating. I don't know yet on the breakdown of this AP poll, but this is becoming a common practice. Now, remember what I have said to you over the years. I hate to keep saying that. You know, yesterday I found myself saying, "Now, as I said to you last week and as I told you last week," and I hate getting into the monosyllabic habit of doing that, but it is important to keep saying and reinforcing things, and the news cycle today is really no more than what the media wants the news to be.
You can get a poll; you can take it and you can bend it and shape it and come up with a result that's pretty close to what you want. I frankly don't have the sense that these polls are accurate. If I did, I'd be worried about it, but I don't have the sense that they're accurate.
