Jacobson: CNN distorts already biased 60 Min./Vanity Fair poll about Gov. Palin

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At Le·gal In·sur·rec·tion, law professor William A. Jacobson exposes the latest 60 Minutes/Vanity Fair poll as bogus and the reporting on it in the lamestream media as grossly distorted:

The headline of the day at CNN is TRENDING: Clear majority says Palin not qualified to be president...

This description of the poll is an outright fabrication. The actual poll question had nothing to do with credentials, qualifications, or even electability. Here was the actual question: "Do you think SARAH PALIN would have the ability to be an EFFECTIVE PRESIDENT?"

Similarly distorted versions are all over the internet, in which the authors misread the actual question asked, and use it to opine on Palin's qualifications or election prospects.

[...]

Again, there is no truth to the characterization that the poll concerned qualifications or election prospects.

(added) Whether someone would be an "effective" president could turn on a number of factors, including the strength of opposition.

[...]

These Vanity Fair polls are a joke; there are few choices given to the interviewees, there is no depth of questioning, and they mix pop culture questions... in with political questions.

That said, at least accurately report the question and the context.

Which is what HuffPo did, by also noting other polls on Palin's prospects:

While the 2012 election is a long way off and poll numbers are difficult to interpret, in one recent poll of potential 2012 matchups, conducted Aug. 6-9 by the Democratic firm Public Policy Polling, 43% of registered voters said they would support Palin to 49% for Obama.

HuffPo more fair than CNN and Time Magazine. It has come to this.

Read Prof. Jacobson's full debunking of the ersatz 60 Minutes/VF poll here.

- JP