Behind Kucinich: Will MSM Cover Hillary's Fifth-Place Finish in Dean Org Poll?

[Jcrowley]

Behind Kucinich: Will MSM Cover Hillary's Fifth-Place Finish in Dean Org Poll?
Posted by Mark Finkelstein on March 23, 2007 - 10:48.

At the end of his 2004 campaign, Howard Dean started Democracy for America, billed as a grassroots Democratic political action committee "dedicated to supporting fiscally responsible, socially progressive candidates at all levels of government."

Last week, DFA staged an online Dem presidential candidate preference poll. As a proud DFA member , I just received the results of the poll. Hillary's advisers might want to dust off Hirohito's famous statement at the end of WWII to the effect that the situation "has not progressed entirely as we would have wished." Because Hillary finished in fifth place with 8.7%, behind Dennis Kucinich and barely one point ahead of Bill Richardson. Obama finished first with 28%, John Edwards a close second at 25%.

Was DFA Executive Director Tom Hughes mortified by the results? He buried the mention of Hillary's embarrassingly bad performance in the eighth paragraph of his email! Then again, Hillary can take some comfort from the results: she's beating the pants off Joe Biden, Chris Dodd and someone named Mike Gravel!

So now the question is, will the MSM cover or bury Hillary's poll flop?

Poll results:

Barack Obama 28.1%
John Edwards 24.6%
Other 12.4%
Dennis Kucinich 10.3%
Hillary Clinton 8.7%
Bill Richardson 7.6%
Undecided 4.9%
Joseph Biden 1.9%
Christopher Dodd 0.5%
Mike Gravel 0.3%

http://newsbusters.org/node/11601

[MonkeyFunk]

1. Do you really think

CNN and MSNBC would bother reporting the results of such a meaningless poll?

[MadHound]

2. Oh that's cute, dismiss what you disagree with as "meaningless"

Hmm, reminds me of a certain other primate we all know:think:

DFA represents the views of millions of people, not only within the DFA and Democratic Party, but those liberals and progressives who are not party members. The DFA is the best chance to reach these people.

But go ahead and dismiss it as meaningless. Just don't be suprised when that comes back and bites you in the ass.

[pnwmom]

8. It IS meaningless, if the participants are self-selected. n/t

[MonkeyFunk]

10. I never expressed any

agreement or disagreement with the poll.

I'm pointing out that it would be supremely naive and stupid to think that such an internet poll, of which there are literally thousands done daily, would garner any attention whatsoever from the media.

[ruggerson]

24. It IS utterly meaningless

it has no scientific validity whatsoever.

[papau]

3. This was an "op-in poll that is not scientific and for entertainment only" -same as CNN poll of the

day - so why should they cover it?

[papau]

14. Brit Humes' favorite source-Brent Bozell's Newsbusters/Media Research Center- is the source? n/t

n/t

[Mass]

4. Considering it was DFA, I think she did very well.

It also shows DFA reacts to name's recognition and media buzz as well as any other groups. Why does Kucinich do better, or Bill Richardson or Dodd for the matter? They have experience, a solid and progressive program, and they are all for getting out of Iraq?

[LibDemAlways]

5. To hear the media whores tell it, Hillary is the

front runner and has been for a couple of years already. I've had several repukes tell me they expect her to be the Dem nominee. When I tell them she isn't wildly popular with the Democratic base, they are genuinely surprised.

You'll never see the results of that poll on CNN, but I suspect Hillary's flame out will be early and spectacular.

[Morgana LaFey]

16. I'm not surprised they're surprised

Hell, the pundits can't quite bring themselves to believe it either (that she's NOT wildly popular with the base). OTOH, for them, "the base" is the left-leaning pundits in Washington and probably Congressional Dems and their staff. O think they're completely oblivious to a wider world that includes individuals like those who come here.

[NYCGirl]

6. You do realize your source for that is Right Wing blog Newsbusters?

That may very well be the outcome of the DFA poll, but if so, you might want to link to some other source, IMO.

[Jcrowley]

9. Never heard of newsbusters

Not a big deal. All polls are shaky in my view. Interesting nevertheless.

[NYCGirl]

13. Yes, it's from Media Research Center, run by Brent Bozell

http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=NewsBusters

[Jcrowley]

18. Here's the original source

http://www.democracyforamerica.com/headlines/view/222

Hard to keep up with the myriad organizations out there. As for polls they can be interesting but more often than not they are used to manage opinion rather than gauge opinion.

[ruggerson]

22. From the DFA Website: "We asked DFA members"

It's an internet poll for starters (as opposed to a scientifically designed, statistically weighted public opinion survey)

and additionally, it was an internet poll solely of a small group - DFA members.

Utterly and completely worthless.

[WI_DEM]

7. doubtful because it's an on-line poll and I remember a post on DU inviting people to come over to

write-in Al Gore. On-line polls are not taken seriously because they are easily tampered with.

[rman]

11. "tampered"? - suggests hacking, or voting multiple times

(which hardly ever works except on the most unprofessional of online polls)

What's left is "tampering" as in, inviting people to vote on a poll - but anyone can do that; opponents and proponents of any candidate or issue. And it's not a bad thing - people can't vote in a poll they don't know about; the more people know about the poll the better.
If the invitation to vote on this poll got out on DU then apparently Hillary isn't as popular on DU as some would have us believe.

[WI_DEM]

12. Well that isn't what I meant, and you probably know it. But I'm not a member of DFA

and I went over there and voted. I wrote in Gore. Others did too, so the poll isn't really a representation of true DFA feelings because you probably have people from other campaigns going over there and voting for their favorite candidate too who have nothing to do with DFA.

And who the heck on DU is saying that Hillary is popular? Nearly every post about her is pretty negative.

[Cobalt Violet]

15. It won't be covered by the MSM. n/t

[Bucky]

17. Try to be less knuckleheaded, please. It's an online poll, for crying out loud.

Please tell me you're not that stupid.

[Jcrowley]

21. I'm not that stupid

That's why I would never vote for Hillary.

Of course online polls are rigged as are virtually all polls which are used to manipulate opinion rather than measure it. Still interesting huh? :hi:

Thanks for the feedback

Here's the original source:
http://www.democracyforamerica.com/headlines/view/222

[ruggerson]

23. No. Online polls are not like "virtually all polls"

Online polls are meaningless because anyone can vote in them. A group like DU can publicize it, vote en masse, and distort the results. There is no mechanism in an online poll to statistically weight its participants.

Polling organizations like Gallup and Pew scientifically design statistical models, based on population and geography, and then voice poll, using those models. Thus the poll results are legitimate snapshots of public sentiment, within a statistical margin of error.

Online internet polls tell us absolutely nothing. They are completely meaningless.

[Bucky]

26. Please note the poster said "virtually all polls which are used to manipulate opinion"

If you're gonna argue with someone, argue with what they said, not part of what they said. There are bad ways to run even polls that use scientifically valid sampling methodologies. Fox News is great at this with questions like "Do you support the Democrats' proposal to abandon the fight against terrorism?"

[ruggerson]

19. "Newsbuster.org" is run by a guy who regularly posts on Free Republic

so why are you referencing his outfit?

and, is this not an internet poll, thus utterly meaningless and non scientific?

[Jcrowley]

20. See post 18 n/t

[mdmc]

25. Hillary Clinton will be our next President

but thank you for sharing this poll info with us. I would suspect many former Deaniacs would have Obamania. God bless the activists!:kick: