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24 Mar 2010 11:01

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Politics: Polling drama: One pollster calls out another, calls for a duel

  • Using all negative statements, rather than a mix of negative and positive ones, reflects another non-standard approach, one that can further bias responses.
  • ABC Director of Polling Gary Langer • Regarding the problems he found with a Harris Interactive survey on “wingnuts” who dislike President Obama. The survey, which suggests as many as 40 percent of people think Obama is a socialist (among other things), also uses the leading phrase “here are some things people have said about President Obama,” with Langer finds particularly troublesome. He calls it “a highly manipulative approach to questionnaire design,” the kind of thing that persuades many respondents into biases. Harris Interactive must be smartin’ about this. source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

24 Mar 2010 09:57

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Politics: UK Conservative leader: Yeah, we, uh …, support, uh …, gay rights

  • Man, talk about a stumble. David Cameron, who’s been leading a push to portray the Conservatives as a modernized party in the UK, tripped over his own words in this interview with Gay Times, to the point where he told the magazine to shut off the camera so he could collect his thoughts. This is how to make your party look modernized. source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

24 Mar 2010 09:22

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Politics: Best way to thank Dems who voted for health care? Advertising

  • $5 million in thank-you political
    ads are coming source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

23 Mar 2010 20:35

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Politics: Mimes know how to deal with xenophobes at immigration rallies

  • Whoever came up with this way of handling dissenting opinion (making Roy Beck of anti-immigration group NumbersUSA basically freak out in this clip due to all the balloons and noisemakers) deserves a gold star and a cookie. If the tea partiers did this instead of getting all angry and stuff, Sarah Palin would probably be president right now. source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

23 Mar 2010 20:28

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Politics: Joe Biden is f(#@ing right, isn’t he? Yeah, he really is.

  • And yes Mr. Vice President,
    you’re right …
  • White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs • On handling a major political gaffe with a little bit of levity. Joe Biden told Obama that signing the health care bill was a “big ducking deal.” Except he wasn’t ducking. The video is here. We have to say, Joe Biden amuses the spit out of us. source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

22 Mar 2010 21:55

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Politics: Max Headroom: Bill O’Reilly upgraded to the voice of reason

  • Since, first, we missed it this weekend, and second, so much happened in the last 24 hours, we’re throwing you a special Monday edition of Max Headroom. Enjoy, and don’t say we don’t ever give you things!
  • civil wrong Glenn Beck needs to check his history books before he talks. Seems the guy who he was offended about looking like a civil rights marcher was Rep. John Lewis … a civil rights marcher. Oops.
  • O’Reilly: It was “Hysteria” The right-leaning talk radio dudes were so crazy today that even Bill O’Reilly was just like, holy crap, really? OK, granted, the GOP just lost a major political victory, but still. Wow.
  • sorry about that, guys On CNN today, Rep. Randy Neuge­bauer apologized for that “baby killer” comment in regards to Bart Stupak, but still stands by it. We stand by the “he who smelt it, dealt it” policy, really.
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

22 Mar 2010 19:34

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Politics: The New York Times admits to getting the ACORN facts wrong

  • Public editor Clark Hoyt set the record straight. With ACORN’s pending closure taking over the news today, it’s perhaps a sad footnote to the scandal that The New York Times admits to misrepresenting the case. Among other things, Hoyt says (and BigGovernment.com founder Andrew Breitbart agrees that) James O’Keefe never dressed as a pimp during his visits to ACORN – just at the beginning and end of videos when he wasn’t actually in their offices. The damage is done, though. ACORN is now dead. (ACORN housing, however, lives on under a different name.) source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink
 

22 Mar 2010 19:07

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Politics: ACORN closes, James O’Keefe succeeds, Twitter reacts



Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

22 Mar 2010 17:43

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Politics: Did GOP Rep. Joseph Cao want to vote for health care last night?

  • YES but not without the 86’ed
    Stupak amendment source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

22 Mar 2010 17:38

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Politics: On “Baby Killer” and Congress’ miserable tonal problems

  • Listen, we’re not giving either side credit here. The Republicans just had some dude (Texas Rep. Randy Neugebauer) use the words “baby killer” in reference to Bart Stupak (or the bill, depending on what you believe). However, we get the feeling the Democrats aren’t using the opportunity to look like they’re taking the moral high ground here. Both sides look ugly at the end of all of this, and there aren’t any winners here.
  • Republican blech When Joe Wilson shouted “You lie!” at Obama, the Republicans had an opportunity to step away from the tonal problems the health care bill has created. (The chart above is another example.) Instead, they stepped in it deeper, allowing for that tone to totally permeate the party. And now, they own this unhelpful tone to the point that they can’t find the rabbit hole again.
  • Democratic spin As super-journo Matt Taibbi notes on True/Slant, the Democrats are claiming that the bill was “built on a series of principles that Republicans espoused for years.” What? Come on. This isn’t true. While the Democrats are certainly becoming more centrist, it’s certainly not the same thing. This just makes the other side mad. That language gets in the way.
  • Take a step back If Congress wants to really, truly help the needs of the people, it needs to look back at the past year and figure out exactly why this country and its Congress has a tone not seen since the 1960s. It’s not taxes. It’s not racism. It’s not any of that. Can we call it a tempest in a teapot? No. If anything, the tempest shattered the teapot, and voters have to pick up the pieces.
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink
 
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