Zogby Poll: Revealing About Obama Voters/Media

[deacon blues]

Author John Ziegler commissioned Zogby International to poll Obama voters after he interviewed scores of them after the election for an upcoming documentary he is producing about the 2008 presidetial election. He noticed in his interviews that many of the Obama voters he spoke with left him with the idea that they had formed their decision to vote for Obama based on the media coverage of the campaign. After the poll was conducted Ziegler concluded that the poll reveals a "stunning level of malpractice on the part of the media in not educating the Obama portion of the voting populace."

The poll was conducted by the non-partisan John Zogby who has built a reputation for accuracy in recent elections. The poll was a 12-question, multiple-choice survey was conducted Nov. 13-15, 2008 of 512 Obama voters nationwide with a margin of error of +/- 4.4%.

• Only 2% of those surveyed got a perfect score or 11 out of 12.
• Only 54% of Obama voters were able to answer at least half or more of the questions correctly.
• 94% of Obama voters correctly identified Palin as the candidate with a pregnant teenage daughter.
• 86% correctly identified Palin as the candidate associated with a $150,000 wardrobe purchased by her political party.
• 81% chose McCain as the candidate who was unable to identify the number of houses he owned.
• When asked which candidate said they could "see Russia from their house," 87% chose Palin, although the quote actually is attributed to Saturday Night Live's Tina Fey during her portrayal of Palin during the campaign. An answer of "none" or "Palin" was counted as a correct answer on the test, given that the statement was associated with a characterization of Palin.

Obama voters did not fare nearly as well overall when asked to answer questions about statements or stories associated with Obama or Biden:

• 83% failed to correctly answer that Obama had won his first election by getting all of his opponents removed from the ballot.
• 88% did not correctly associate Obama with his statement that his energy policies would likely bankrupt the coal industry.
• 56% were also not able to correctly answer that Obama started his political career at the home of two former members of the Weather Underground.
• 72% of Obama voters did not correctly identify Biden as the candidate who had to quit a previous campaign for President because he was found to have plagiarized a speech.
• 47% did not know that Biden was the one who predicted Obama would be tested by a generated international crisis during his first six months as President.

In addition to questions regarding statements and scandals associated with the campaigns, the 12-question, multiple-choice survey also included a question asking which political party controlled both houses of Congress leading up to the election -- 57% of Obama voters were unable to correctly answer that Democrats controlled both the House and the Senate.

The full article can be found at http://www.zogby.com/news/ReadNews.cfm?ID=1642

Pretty revealing about what many of us already know: the media is biased. They have been proving this for a long time, but this election manifested a level of a lack of objectivity that has never been seen before in American journalistic history.

[rgcraig]

Yep!

[Pressing-On]

Originally Posted by deacon blues

Pretty revealing about what many of us already know: the media is biased. They have been proving this for a long time, but this election manifested a level of a lack of objectivity that has never been seen before in American journalistic history.

I am still amazed at how stupid people really can be. I'm trying to go a little lighter on the political stuff right now. I was soooooo angry during and right after the election. My husband said, "You need to get a hold of yourself."

A few nights ago the Lord reminded me that He, alone, made Pharaoh say and do everything He wanted him to say and do. I, of course, knew the story, but when God reminded me of that in way of settling me down - I'm better now and don't want to be that angry or fearful again.

[A_PoMo]

I first saw this yesterday afternoonon MSNBC. Imagine that! Gasp!

[Dedicated Mind]

if the media is so biased how did GWB win 2 terms? why don't you blame the real culprit, republican fiscal irresposibility

[Ferd]

Originally Posted by Dedicated Mind

if the media is so biased how did GWB win 2 terms? why don't you blame the real culprit, republican fiscal irresposibility

I think i was pretty clear on that point.... for a year before the election?


that doesnt undo the simple and legtimate results of this poll....


I do wish I could make a comparison of these same questions for McCain supporters. It would provide a better benchmark by which to judege the results.

[tstew]

Originally Posted by Ferd

I think i was pretty clear on that point.... for a year before the election?


that doesnt undo the simple and legtimate results of this poll....


I do wish I could make a comparison of these same questions for McCain supporters. It would provide a better benchmark by which to judege the results.

Personally, I would not be surprised if more knew about the Wright/ Ayers/ birth certificate allegations and all the hype surrounding Obama than legitimate policy matters as well...but I could be wrong.

[Esther]

Originally Posted by tstew

Personally, I would not be surprised if more knew about the Wright/ Ayers/ birth certificate allegations and all the hype surrounding Obama than legitimate policy matters as well...but I could be wrong.

I never one time heard the major media say one thing about Obama's birth certificate.

I actually learned more about that here on AFF than anywhere else. What an education we have going here.

[Cindy]

I think most people see and hear what they want to see and hear. And I also think that the media picks and chooses what they think will most push THEIR agenda. And they do have one. A few years ago I think it was on ABC, they did a study of media bias. All of the people they spoke to and of, were admittedly biased on what they reported, political or otherwise. And they do pick and choose reports likely to target our fears, beliefs, and hopes. I think the most unbiased reporting happened on 9/11. Because they were right in the middle of it.

[deacon blues]

Originally Posted by Dedicated Mind

if the media is so biased how did GWB win 2 terms? why don't you blame the real culprit, republican fiscal irresposibility

It was a miracle. In 2000 the media was calling Florida for Gore before the panhandle had finished voting, an area of FL that is strongly conservative. Lord only knows how many people in that area decided not to vote as a result thinking their vote would not count. Also the media reported W's DUI right before the election. Many people feel that the election tightened as a result.

In 2004 CBS and Dan Rather got caught in a very skewed and false story about Bush and his National Guard days. Had the story and supporting documents not been proven to be a sham, the election could've been swayed by the report.

This time the MSM waqs well prepared not to get "Swift Boated" and chose not to report or downplay the substantive stories about BO concerning Ayers, Wright, Khalidi (remember the LA Times "protecting" their source?), Michele's gaffes and Biden's gaffes. How manyb stories made a big deal about BO's "57 states" foible and Biden's reference to a restaurant that he goes to in Wilmington that had been closed for decades. They get the benefit of the doubt, Palin and McCain get excoriated for verbal mistakes and factual errors like that.