Sunday, April 19, 2020

THE PRESS CONTINUES TO BELIEVE THAT "REPUBLICAN" = "AMERICAN"

Politico's Anita Kumar does what too many mainstream journalists do: Under the influence of GOP spin doctors, she treats what Republicans want as a synonym for what Americans want.
Trump aides and allies say they are growing confident that an earlier [economic] restart amid the coronavirus pandemic could help the president in his reelection campaign, according to six people close to the White House or Trump campaign.

They point to emerging signs around the country. Trump-supported activists are protesting strict stay-at-home orders. Conservative groups’ internal polling in red-leaning and swing states show a significant uptick in Americans who favor reopening the country. A growing chorus of Republican lawmakers across the nation are on board.

“If you don't see something start to happen ... you’re going to see a conservative revolt by our base,” said Adam Brandon, president of FreedomWorks, a conservative group which recently polled on reopening the economy.
The argument is that it's good politics for Trump to do what his base wants -- even though a new NBC/Wall Street Journal poll makes clear that it's not what America wants.
Nearly 60 percent of American voters say they are more concerned that a relaxation of stay-at-home restrictions would lead to more COVID-19 deaths than they are that those restrictions will hurt the U.S. economy, according to a new national NBC News/Wall Street Journal poll.

But while strong majorities of Democrats and independents are more worried about the coronavirus than the economy, Republicans are divided on the question, with almost half of them more concerned about how the restrictions could affect the economy.

How many polls like this have I quoted to you over the years -- polls in which Democrats and independents are on one side of an issue and Republicans on the other? And yet there's never a suggestion in the mainstream press that the right is out of step with "the real America." In this crisis, it's just the opposite -- the press implies that the minority viewpoint is the emerging consensus viewpoint:



The Politico story tells us that reopening the economy is good politics, according to ... um, private polling, which doesn't show solid support for what Republicans want to do, but merely shows an uptick in support for GOP ideas:
Conservative groups have noticed a change in polling in recent weeks when they ask respondents if they want to go back to work, even if they know the outbreak could continue to cause infections or deaths, and if they would be willing to wear protective gear, such as masks and gloves, in order to reopen the country. Some polls saw upticks as large as 20 percentage points of people willing to return to work, even with the caveats, according to said Brandon and others familiar with the polls. The FreedomWorks polling was conducted in suburban House districts in battleground states, including Florida, Pennsylvania, Wisconsin and Michigan.
The NBC/Journal poll, by contrast, shows Trump losing to Joe Biden in swing states by 6 points, and losing by 7 overall. It shows Trump with a 52% disapproval rating on his handling of the virus (44% approve), and says that only 36% of respondents trust what they hear from Trump on the virus, while 52% don't trust what he says.

The mainstream media wants you to believe that the majority of Americans who'd prefer to hang tight are the outliers, while these folks are representative of the mainstream:





The political press is failing us.


Posted by Steve M. at 10:31 AM

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