Memo To Washington Post's Murray: Democrats And Independent Experts Have Opinions, Too
September 22, 2007 -- 2:31 PM EST // //
You know, it's boring that this needs to be pointed out, but Republicans aren't the only people out there with opinions on things.
In today's Washington Post piece on the failure of Levin-Reed in the Senate, Shailagh Murray reports that brash and confident Republicans know for a fact that public opinion is now shifting on Iraq:
As the Democrats struggled, Republicans sounded emboldened. The public has grown more patient on Iraq, they argued, after a report last week from Army Gen. David H. Petraeus, the U.S. commander in Iraq, showing security improvements, and after Bush's announcement that he would begin to slowly withdraw troops.It's lovely to hear that Republicans think Petraeus has moved public opinion in their direction. But what do people who aren't Republican think about the public's "patience" about Iraq? Well, as you all know, multiple independent pollsters have found the opposite: That public opinion isn't shifting at all on the question of how quickly to pull out of Iraq. None of the findings of these poor neglected pollsters is represented here; not even any Democrat is allowed to rebut this.
Come on, now. This isn't difficult. Two parties are having a dispute about something. One party thinks one thing. The other thinks the opposite thing. If you're not going to bother to determine which side is right, at least take the elementary step of quoting both their arguments.
The piece descends deeper into absurdity:
GOP Senate offices circulated the results of a Gallup poll released this week that showed 54 percent of those surveyed think Petraeus's plan for removing troops is the right pace, or even too quick. One-third of those surveyed viewed the withdrawal as moving too slowly.As it happens, the very same poll that Murray allows these GOPers to cherry pick from has a bunch of other numbers in it, too. It finds that 59% want a timetable for withdrawal and that barely one-third think the surge is having a positive effect. Indeed, the pollsters themselves conclude that most of the public's opinions on Iraq "run contrary to the message delivered by Petraeus to Congress last week."
The only numbers from this poll that make it into Murray's piece, however, are the ones that GOP Senate staffers circulated. Look, instead of this, why not err on the side of informing the readers? They won't mind. In fact, they'll appreciate it.