Editor & Publisher shows it's distinct bias once again by skewing the presentation of a Gallup poll rather badly. Their headline: "Gallup: Almost two-thirds want Iraq withdrawal". While the words are factual, one would be hard pressed to say they were true in an objective sense after one reads the actual poll.
E&P: NEW YORK A new Gallup poll finds that roughly 2 in 3 Americans urge a U.S. withdrawal from Iraq, with 31% wanting this to start immediately. But it also found that while 64% feel they "understand" the Bush administraton's argument for staying in Iraq, only 54% understand the Democrats' view–whatever that is.
Gallup's director, Frank Newport, sums up the results today: "Taken together, it is perhaps fair to say that a significant majority of Americans would like the United States to either withdraw troops from Iraq or make specific plans to do so, although there is no majority demand that troops be withdrawn immediately."
Now that opening is made of of facts. Here's where the trouble starts, the quote above is a "Movie Review Quote™". Newport's full quotation provides a bit more context:
These data can be interpreted in several different ways, depending on one's orientation.
Those who are strongly opposed to the United States' involvement in Iraq may take comfort in the fact that about two-thirds of all Americans focus on some type of withdrawal from Iraq, albeit a gradual one.
Those who strongly support the Bush administration's efforts in Iraq, on the other hand, may find support for their views in the fact that about two-thirds of Americans are focused on plans other than immediate withdrawal, as has been advocated by some critics.
Taken together, it is perhaps fair to say that a significant majority of Americans would like the United States to either withdraw troops from Iraq or make specific plans to do so, although there is no majority demand that troops be withdrawn immediately.
These results underscore the difficulty Iraq presents for Democratic candidates for office this fall and in the 2008 presidential election. A hard-line campaign position that the United States should withdraw immediately from Iraq would find favor from only a minority of the general population (although this would vary, of course, in specific states and congressional districts). But while a campaign position that the United States should plan on some type of a more gradual withdrawal from Iraq would most likely be much more acceptable, it is close to the position of the Republican administration and thus would not provide a highly differentiated position for a Democratic candidate on this issue.
So, from Frank Newport's own analysis, you can see exactly where E&P stands on the issue of the Iraq war, can't you?
