WHEN IS A MAJORITY NOT A MAJORITY? WHEN IT DOESN'T FIT THE PREFERRED NARRATIVE.

Today The New York Times gives us more results from its latest poll. Once again, those dumb old Democrats are out of step with real Americans.

Voters overwhelmingly believe American democracy is under threat, but seem remarkably apathetic about that danger, with few calling it the nation’s most pressing problem, according to a New York Times/Siena College poll.

In fact, more than a third of independent voters and a smaller but noteworthy contingent of Democrats said they were open to supporting candidates who reject the legitimacy of the 2020 election, as they assigned greater urgency to their concerns about the economy than to fears about the fate of the country’s political system.

Seventy-one percent of Republicans said they would be comfortable voting for a candidate who thought that year’s election was stolen, as did 37 percent of independent voters and a notable 12 percent of Democrats.

Here are the numbers:

If it fit a narrative The New York Times liked, this could have been reported a different way: Solid majorities of voters, including 60 percent of independents and nearly a quarter of Republicans, say they would be uncomfortable voting for a candidate who thought the 2020 presidential election was stolen, even if that candidate shared most of their positions on the issues.

Notice that the question doesn't just refer to a candidate who's an election denialist -- it refers to "a candidate for political office who you agree with on most positions" and who also thinks the election was stolen. "Agree with on most positions" is never mentioned in the Times write-up of the poll, even though it gives respondents an incentive to say they'd be at least somewhat comfortable. Nevertheless, independents said they weren't comfortable by a 60%-37% margin, and Democrats by an 83%-12% margin. For Republicans, it's 23%-71% -- but even that 23% is higher than I'd have expected.

The narrative the Times wants is: Those ridiculous elitist Democrats with their silly democracy crusade have -- as usual -- failed to connect with real American voters, who sensibly care more about gas prices. It's true -- voters do care more about pocketbook issues. But they're against election denialism by a 54%-37% margin. The Times could have called that a repudiation of a major Republican talking point. But saying Democrats are out of touch puts the paper right in its comfort zone.