January 31, 2006

Tunnel Vision

In a recent Basswood Research (R) poll memo, three "key findings" of the poll are highlighted. First, swing voters (i.e. those "likely to determine which party controls Congress next year") have a negative view of current leadership and are favoring Dems. Second, "ethical scandals are taking a toll" of the perception of GOPers in swing districts and are closely associated with the party. And finally, "voters in these swing districts have a clear and strong preference for a new Republican Majority Leader who is not perceived as tainted by the Washington lobbyist community." This is true, but what has to be kept in mind when reading this is that it is all in the question wording, and of course the order. It has already been established that ethics is a sore spot for GOPers so of course someone with no ethical lapses is an attractive candidate. Read these results as one would an informed ballot, keeping in mind that any of the three candidates could be described in a different light to alter the results dramatically.

Posted at 01:45 PM

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