Fox News Polls: Profiles In Loaded Questions

[RedEarth]

By Eric Kleefeld | bio
You've got to check out the questions in the latest Fox News poll. They're hilariously loaded — so much so, in fact, they are as clear a case study as anybody could possibly want that:

(a) Poll questions can be skillfully rigged to bring about a desired outcome; and

(b) Fox News specializes in asking such questions, especially on issues that could be damaging to President Bush and the GOP.

Check out these questions, and their responses. Fox's artful wordings elicited the exact opposite findings of other, more reputable polls on questions involving the Attorney Purge and the Iraq War:

Do you think a Congressional investigation into the dismissal of the eight federal prosecutors is a good use of taxpayer money?

Yes 39%
No 51%

And:

Who do you trust more to decide when U.S. troops should leave Iraq — U.S. military commanders or Members of Congress?

Commanders 69%
Members of Congress 18%

Note the absence in the above question of the word "Bush."

There's also this little gem:

After the 2004 presidential election, the president of the left-wing Moveon.org political action committee made the following comment about the Democratic Party, 'In the last year, grassroots contributors like us gave more than $300 million to the Kerry campaign and the DNC, and proved that the Party doesn't need corporate cash to be competitive. Now it’s our Party: we bought it, we own it and we’re going to take it back.' Do you think the Democratic Party should allow a grassroots organization like Moveon.org to take it over or should it resist this type of takeover?

Should allow 16%
Should resist 61%

http://electioncentral.tpmcafe.com/blog/electioncentral/2007/apr/02/fox_news_polls_profiles_in_loaded_questions

[DCKit]

1. Explains why polls are described as being "designed"