Sunday, August 29, 2004

During the Democratic convention, National Review Online's Jonah Goldberg, writing for USA Today, looked at a poll of Dem delegates and told us with a sneer that

According to a New York Times survey of [Democratic convention] delegates, ... 5 out of 6 say the war on terrorism and national security aren't that important....

What the Times survey actually said was

The war, Iraq and terrorism are not seen by the delegates as the most important issues in their states, the poll shows. Only one in six cited them as most important. Half of the delegates, on the other hand, said the most important issues were the economy and jobs, and one-third of all voters agree.

Now, surely Republican delegates answered this question very differently, right? Well, let's look at the Times's GOP survey (warning: PDF):

War:

Democrats who said it was most important: 7%

Republicans who said it was most important: 5%

Iraq:

Democrats who said it was most important: 7%

Republicans who said it was most important: 3%

Terrorism:

Democrats who said it was most important: 2%

Republicans who said it was most important: 15%

Total of all three:

Democrats: 16%

Republicans: 23%


So, Jonah, I assume you're going to impugn the GOP delegates' patriotism by pointing out that "3 out of 4 say the war on terrorism and national security aren't that important" -- right?

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