A Piece Of Art

Most of you reading this know what a big fan I am of Elizabeth Warren, who is running in Massachusetts against Sen. Scott Brown, a Republican who gets credit in the Beltway press for being a “moderate,” but in reality is no such thing. 

The Massachusetts GOP without, so far, a word of criticism from Mr. Brown, presented this commercial as one of its first shots in what will be a nasty campaign:

You may have noticed during that uplifting presentation a couple of quotes from a “Democratic pollster” named Douglas Schoen:

These lies were prompted by a man who, besides being a pollster, is a Fox “News” contributor, and if he is a Democrat then Anson Burlingame is John Steinbeck and his Globe blog is The Grapes of Wrath.

Jonathan Chait says that Doug Schoen and his Fox pal Pat Cadell “have made a mini-career in the Obama administration as Dick Morris-esque apostates“:

They repeat republican talking points, but the hook that gets them attention is that they make sure to mention that they’re Democrats, they write this out of sadness rather than anger, their party has left them, etc.

My usual visceral reaction to Schoen when he appears on Fox to do his whoring for Roger Ailes is to upchuck a stomach full of curdled cheese puffs and pronounce the resulting puddle a portrait of the phony Democrat.

Such works of art are worthy of what Schoen does in service to Fox and in disservice to his former party, all the while dishonestly keeping the name “Democrat” cuddled up next to his as he is misidentified on millions of television screens, which also bear that false Fox mantra, fair and balanced.

by R. Duane Graham on October 28, 2011  •  Permalink
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Posted by R. Duane Graham on October 28, 2011

https://duanegraham.wordpress.com/2011/10/28/a-piece-of-art/

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13 Comments

  1. McKnight John

     /  October 28, 2011

    RDG,

    Cadell hasn’t been a Democrat since JC Penny’s sold Monkee Nehru shirts.

    And GO REDBIRDS!

    Like

  2. hlgaskins

     /  October 29, 2011

    Here’s a quote from a Wikipedia article on Schoen’s Occupy poll.

    “Shoen said the protesters represent “an unrepresentative segment of the electorate that believes in radical redistribution of wealth, civil disobedience and, in some instances, violence,” and that their common bond is “a deep commitment to left-wing policies.” Shoen believes that the Democratic Party should not appeal to voters who support taxing oil companies and the rich, but rather to voters in the middle who want lower taxes.

    However, other authors reviewed the answers and said that Schoen misrepresented the results. When asked, “What frustrates you the most about the political process in the United States?” 30% said “Influence of corporate/moneyed/special interests,” and 21% said “Partisanship.” Only 3% said, “Our democratic/capitalist system” and 6% said “Income inequality.”

    When asked, “What would you like to see the Occupy Wall Street movement achieve?” 35% said “Influence the Democratic Party the way the Tea Party has influenced the GOP” and 11% said, “Break the two-party duopoly.” Only 4% said “Radical redistribution of wealth.””

    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Douglas_Schoen

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  3. ansonburlingame

     /  October 29, 2011

    Duane,

    If you and yours want to actually support and defend the OWS crowd please do so. But don’t ignore my comments of late what happened to the Democratic Party begining in 1965 in terms of Presidential politics for the next 25 years. The best and only occupant of the White House that was a Democrat for those 25 plus years was Jimmy Carter!!!!

    At the Presidential level Democrats did not regain their feet until 1992 with the advent of Bill Clinton.

    I still like the George Wil’sl approach to OWS. Let’em protest all they like, keep it legal and then we can all VOTE!!

    Anson

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    • R. Duane Graham

       /  October 31, 2011

      Anson,

      I will grant you (I’ve actually mentioned this before) that civil unrest in the 1960s helped give us Richard Nixon, but it had nothing to do with electing Reagan and Bush I and II. You’re pushing it way too far.

      And, as you know, I’m all for voting. I just hope the GOP doesn’t completely disenfranchise Democratic voters by the time next November gets here. They’re working very hard on it.

      Duane

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  4. janereaction

     /  October 29, 2011

    We messed with Texas!

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  5. janereaction

     /  October 29, 2011

    HLG, thanks for posting the facts about the real poll results. As usual, the ignorant and uninformed automatically believed the lies or were too lazy to investigate, and no corrections or retractions will ever be seen.

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    • R. Duane Graham

       /  October 31, 2011

      Jane,

      I think what Schoen did was unforgivable for a pollster. If you can’t even honestly report on the results of your own gd poll, then you shouldn’t get anywhere near a tv camera.

      Duane

      Like

  6. ansonburlingame

     /  November 1, 2011

    To all,

    Fabricating poll results for political purposes is dead wrong for sure.

    But polls themselves, honestly taken and reported, are……? At best they are a snapshot of American sentiments. With 24/7 “news” things change fast around here now.

    Recall that Bush’s approval ratings were near 80% when he ordered the ivasion of Iraq. Now go figure.

    Anson

    Like

  7. hlgaskins

     /  November 1, 2011

    “Recall that Bush’s approval ratings were near 80% when he ordered the ivasion of Iraq. Now go figure.”

    Bush’s approval rating was closer to 90% when he ordered the invasion of Iraq, but when he left office it was around 22%.

    George Herbert Walker Bush’s approval rating reached around 89% when he approved military action, but it did him not good when he ran for a second term. We American’s are after all patriots, as long as we don’t get “bogged down” into no-win situations.

    Approval ratings can be remarkably accurate when things are quiet at home, but when something goes wrong and doesn’t get fixed quickly, we can also be remarkably fickle.

    In this case the pollster completely disregarded his own data, and openly lied about it to sway public opinion. Republicans are welcome to Schoen, and he should feel quite at home with them.

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  8. ansonburlingame

     /  November 2, 2011

    HLG and others,

    The only poll that counts is the one coming out of ballot boxes. Until that happens who really knows how most American’s feel about things, day to day. And even those ballot box “polls” swing rather dramatically, particularly in “bad” times. Compare 2008 and 2010. Rather dramatic difference in those ballot box polls, nationally.

    So what to do, seems the question of today with public opinion as shown in polls swings all over the place. How can the restive public concerns be quieted to allow for steady progress be made to send the country in the “right” direction? Actually today with 24/7 “crap”, not necessarily news, that is probably impossible to achieve in terms of the “right” direction.

    But effective leadership on the part of actually one man, the President, (OK, one woman as well) CAN send the country down a steady and consistent path by convincing the majority to “hang in there” long enough to achieve real results for the good of all Americans.

    FDR did it. Reagan did it. Both held the confidence of the majority of Americans for a sustained period of time during their active poltical lives. But no one else has come close in my view in my lifetime or yours to achieving the consistent and deep respect and confidence of the majority of Americans.

    And because of that lack of leadership, look at our downhill slope today.

    Anson

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