Memo To Pundits And News Orgs: New Poll Suggests That American People Don't Crave Independent Third Party Run
January 22, 2008 -- 1:10 PM EST // //
This is pretty great.
As you know, the big news orgs have been lavishing tons of coverage on Michael Bloomberg's flirtation with an independent run for president. Reporters have given a great deal of ink to Bloomberg's argument that the major candidates in both parties aren't offering real solutions to our problems. And pundits such as David Broder have repeatedly argued that the public shares such sentiments and would be receptive to an independent run.
So here's the question. In future stories and commentary about this, will these same big news orgs and pundits make any mention of the fact that new polling suggests that this notion may be -- how do we say this politely -- pure bullshit?
Over on his blog, Greg Mitchell flags a new Gallup Poll that probes these questions in some detail. The poll, which surveyed roughly 2,000 adults, finds:
* A startling 84% of respondents think there's a candidate running who would make a "good president."
* Nearly three in four -- 72% -- say that the candidates are talking about issues they "really care about."
* A solid majority -- 58% -- feel that one or more candidates has come up with "good ideas for solving the country's problems," a finding that runs directly counter to Bloomberg's frequent and self-serving criticism of the other candidates.
Gallup's conclusion? "The American public does not appear to believe it is important or necessary for an independent candidate outside of the traditional two major parties to step into the race in order to save the nation." That couldn't be clearer. Are you there, Dean Broder?
Look, I'm sure that if they tried, folks could come up with other polls that show that the public could be receptive to such a candidacy -- polling is like that. Nonetheless, this data really does deserve to be in stories about this going forward, because it sticks a very sharp skewer into all the puffed up Broderesque and Bloombergian boilerplate we keep hearing about this stuff. That rushing sound you hear is the sound of platitudes deflating.
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