CNN Manipulates Poll Presentation To Slam Bush

Poll: More Americans blame Bush for 9/11 screams the CNN headline. No doubt they rely on few people opening up the pdf file at link, which still only contains 2 questions out of what looks to be at least 27, or more. But an examination of even that tells us this is bogus news.

WASHINGTON (CNN) -- The percentage of Americans who blame the Bush administration for the September 11, 2001, attacks on New York and Washington has risen from almost a third to almost half over the past four years, a CNN poll released Monday found.

Asked whether they blame the Bush administration for the attacks, 45 percent said either a "great deal" or a "moderate amount," up from 32 percent in a June 2002 CNN/USA Today/Gallup poll.

But the Clinton administration did not get off lightly either. The latest poll, conducted by Opinion Research Corporation for CNN, found that 41 percent of respondents blamed his administration a "great deal" or a "moderate amount" for the attacks. (Read the complete poll results -- PDF)

If you look at the results I've extracted below, you'll notice a few important items the article basically ignores. There has been no change at all since June of 2004. The percentages, 42 and 45 percent in 04 and 06 respectively, being within the polls margin of error. Five months after that result, Bush was elected to a second term. I suppose if this were a Presidential Election year, they'd be predicting a Bush third term.

Also, if you take into account the polls margin of error (3%) and the fact that they used a partial sample in 2001 (MOE 4.5%) and, for some reason, have no results for Clinton in 2002 ... the fact is, there is no significant difference between the numbers for Bush and Clinton, except for right after 9/11, when Clinton stood at 45% to 40% for Bush.

Now, look at the top three categories, which would mean any blame at all. Clinton polls 62%, Bush 64% in a poll with a 3.5% margin of error = no significant difference.

Also note the timing of the release. These polls are often released within a day or three, at most. This poll was conducted from August 30 through September 2, prior to Bush's recent speeches on terrorism and well before Sept. 11th - the day they decide to run the headline.

Lastly, look at the results for Clinton in 2001, taken just 3-4 days after the attack. That would be 45% when the reaction to events would be least subject to outside variables interfering in how some would respond. You know, like dissatisfaction over a war. This story is a crock and a blatant hit job by a now third rate media outlet that blew the biggest lead in cable television ratings there ever was. Too bad they haven't done a poll on that.

AUGUST 30-SEPT. 2

The Bush  Administration                     The Clinton Administration

A great deal             23%                                                    19%
Moderate amount       22%                                                    22%
Only a little               19%                                                    21%
Not at all                  35%                                                    36%
No opinion                  1%                                                      1%

CNN/USA TODAY/GALLUP TRENDS
The Bush administration
  A great deal       Moderate amount    Only a little    Not at all     No opinion
2004 17                         25                    23               34               1
2002    9                         23                    26               40               2
2001*  9                         25                    20               44               2

The Clinton Administration
2004           13                 27                    24               34               2
2001*        16                     29                    18               34               3

2004 Jun 21-23
2002 Jun 7-8
2001 Sep 14-15*

The margin of sampling error for results based on the total sample is plus or minus 3 percentage points and for results based on half-samples is plus or minus 4.5 percentage points.

Comments

[Terrye]

What was the point in even asking the question?

[old trooper]

Did FDR request a poll on Dec. 8, 1941?

He did, a declaration of War was approved by the House and Senate.

CNN has been trying to influence public opinion on the GWOT since Sept. 12, 2001.

Nothing new here.

[warrenb]

Once again you're an idiot. its amazing how much time you waste trying to justify yourself with your "figures". ha...what a waste of time...You truly have nothing better to do with your time Dan. Face the fact, most of the country "blames" the President whether you like it or not. But you don't like it very much and so have to resort to other means of creating your argument. If you can't get that fact through your head by this time that the People bame Bush, then there's no hope for you....You know, your "time" may be better spent campaigning for the GOP. They're gonna need all the help they can get just holding for the elections. Isn't your "time" worth anything to you, Dan? Apaarently not. But that's OK....just keep on wasting your time...I along with the countless millions of others want to thank you so much for your support in helping the Dems win back Congress.

[Fletcher]

warrenb: can you read numbers?

Your bloviating suggests an obsession with your own words, and inattention to others (as well as logic), which is correlated in the psychiatric literature with a lack of fluency in statistics.

what's disturbing is that the partisan divide is so great in this country that it extends almost exactly and precisely to a factual question like relative blame for 9/11.

9/11 was conceived, planned, staffed, the people were trained, and terrorist cells were on the ground prior to George Bush's election, during the Clinton Administration. If there are root causes, they are the actions of Bill Clinton. If there were failures to "get" Bin Laden at a time *before* his actions put this plan into motion - in other words, when it would have done any good - the failures were Bill Clinton's. If the CIA and FBI made mistakes, note that Bush left Bill Clinton's choices for leadership and most of the hierarchy of both organizations intact following his election. He made this one of his centerpieces of "changing the tone in Washington" toward a more bipartisan intelligence and federal prosecutorial apparatus.

Reality check! Where Bush failed, it was in revamping Clinton's CIA and FBI. When, under Bush, Clinton's choice for FBI head failed to root out Al Qaeda cells and Clinton's choice for CIA head failed to elevate the threat from background noise to operational intelligence, it still all ties back to Clinton.

[ThatSteveGuy]

Heh, it still amazes me how much the small minds on the left think calling someone by their first name is somehow a belittling technique. The "facts" are that the left wing media has been feeding us a steady diet of "it's Bush's fault" for years and still haven't shifted the tide much. CNN spent yesterday warning us about Islamophobia and the all the problems we created in Iraq. Nice 9/11 memorial. There's a source I trust to do some unbiased research.

Socialism, Communism, Islamic Theocracy... failed or horrifical brutal systems. Pay close attention to Europe and what is going on over there when making wishes for this GREAT country... if you can get your head our of your... hate... long enough to look around.

[Helo Pilot]

Yep, as soon as I saw this on air a couple of days ago - I called B'S. Let's keep their feet to the fire. I rarely watch CNN anymore because of their transparent Democratic leanings - and the same goes for MSNBC, where Olberman is trying to become the next Lester Holt - aka another Forgotten Bush Basher(tm).

[rwilymz]

"Face the fact, most of the country "blames" the President whether you like it or not."

Yeah? And?

Most people think any number of insupportible things at any given time.

What's your point?

You are attempting to conflate the **opinion** of the masses to some great factual truth, and it's not going to happen. "The fact that you have an opinion does not make your opinion fact."

It doesn't matter what the majority thinks if they can't support it. They're simply wrong. And the saddest part is, to me, that this majority isn't concerned with factual substance. It's more important to assert blame.

Yessirree. If we can blame Bush, why, then, those pan-islamist dweebs will leave us alone, won't they? [short answer: no they won't].

And the same thing can be said for those wanting to blame Clinton.

[bt]

Keep the focus on the bastards who killed 3000 Americans and would kill every Jew and more Americans if given half a chance.

Playing politics with 9/11 will keep us defensive and leave us vulernable to the next attack.

It's a war - not a police action or a UN dinner party. I only blame Bush for making this clear enough for the Left to acknowledge.

[the skeptic]

It wouldn't surprise me if a signicant number of those who blame Bush for 9/11 also blame the jews. The Bush Blamers tend to buy in to goofball conspiracy theories that claim that Bush (and the jews) were ACTIVELY involved in the disaster. Those who blame the Clinton Administration tend to fault its incompetence and Pollyanna attitude toward terrorism. Thus, the Clinton blamers seem much more rational than the Bush blamers.

[H. elmore]

I see a more positive aspect of the poll. 54% blame Bush very little or not at all. I'm not sure what "moderate" means but that's another 22% with some blame. Could be 76% positive for him with the amount of negative publicityhe's received. However, I imagine any politician would readily accept a 54% win.

[Richard Painter]

Communists are blind to the facts of what they espouse. Many of their leaders are filthy rich. Hanoi Jane, Barbara Streisand, George Soros come to mind. Yet, under the communist government with which they would replace this great republic, all that wealth would be redistributed.

Still, they skew poll numbers, lie when the truth is better, and have managed to convince many Americans that there IS a free lunch if only those horrible rich people were made to hand over their ill gotten gain.

Yes, they do get angry when presented with facts. They know that any thinking person will reject their propaganda in the face of the truth. But, the purpose of the Communist News Network et al is to make sure the truth is never told isn't it?

Those of us who would like to see this great republic return to the days when communist beliefs were openly ridiculed and rejected as un-American need a change of tack.

Arguing with communists is counter productive. Once a person has reached adulthood they are already lost. Communists grew their numbers by taking over the school system about 40 years ago. They understood that good communists are raised - not converted.

The internet has provided us with a wonderful teaching opportunity. It pleases me to no end to read some of the youth of today who's eyes have been opened to the truth about communism.

I have said that I was not raised in a communist country, but it sure looks like I'll die in one. It doesn't have to be that way, and our children are the key.

Richard Painter