Tuesday, November 18, 2003
Don't Ya Just Love It?
Rush is back, and Gallup's got him.
I'm not sure if this is the first time a national polling outfit has bothered to take a poll to find out how Americans view Mr. Limbaugh; there's no reference to it in the summarizing article. But as of now, 34 % of Americans hold a positive view of Limbaugh, while 51 % hold a negative view of him.
Among political conservatives, 51 % hold a favorable impressions of him, but 35 % are unfavorably impressed at the moment. Among political liberals, his favorabilities, as I believe they call them, are about 10 %, which strikes me as unfathomably high. If you're a liberal, what's to like? Maybe one of their pollsters in Georgia happened to call the Miller household.
While they were at it, Gallup decided to ask about other "political commentators," and found that Ann Coulter, Al Franken, and Dennis Miller are sufficiently unknown so as to preclude meaningful favorable vs unfavorable numbers. Actually, Miller does better than Al or Ann, and has a surprisingly high favorable rating; according to Gallup, that might be because Miller is an equal opportunity political basher. One can't help but wonder if this wholly incorrect assumption was communicated to those who were being polled. The poll's take on Franken was somewhat disappointing, and I'm not sure quite to make of it, though one poll is only one poll.
The poll's final finding is actually quite depressing; Orah and Dr. Phill, who were chosen as comparison public figures because they are controversial on occasion, nonetheless are markedly better known and liked than any of the politially minded commentators.
Why is that depressing, aside from Dr. Phill's remarkable creepiness? Because nowhere do we see the debasing influence of the rightwing on our political culture than the revulsion too many Americans feel toward politics. Politics are divisive, politics are just so much hot air, politics are a competition between sets of lies, politics are contemptible.
Problem is, politics are at the very heart of how a democratic society works. (To be continued)
I'm not sure if this is the first time a national polling outfit has bothered to take a poll to find out how Americans view Mr. Limbaugh; there's no reference to it in the summarizing article. But as of now, 34 % of Americans hold a positive view of Limbaugh, while 51 % hold a negative view of him.
Among political conservatives, 51 % hold a favorable impressions of him, but 35 % are unfavorably impressed at the moment. Among political liberals, his favorabilities, as I believe they call them, are about 10 %, which strikes me as unfathomably high. If you're a liberal, what's to like? Maybe one of their pollsters in Georgia happened to call the Miller household.
While they were at it, Gallup decided to ask about other "political commentators," and found that Ann Coulter, Al Franken, and Dennis Miller are sufficiently unknown so as to preclude meaningful favorable vs unfavorable numbers. Actually, Miller does better than Al or Ann, and has a surprisingly high favorable rating; according to Gallup, that might be because Miller is an equal opportunity political basher. One can't help but wonder if this wholly incorrect assumption was communicated to those who were being polled. The poll's take on Franken was somewhat disappointing, and I'm not sure quite to make of it, though one poll is only one poll.
The poll's final finding is actually quite depressing; Orah and Dr. Phill, who were chosen as comparison public figures because they are controversial on occasion, nonetheless are markedly better known and liked than any of the politially minded commentators.
Why is that depressing, aside from Dr. Phill's remarkable creepiness? Because nowhere do we see the debasing influence of the rightwing on our political culture than the revulsion too many Americans feel toward politics. Politics are divisive, politics are just so much hot air, politics are a competition between sets of lies, politics are contemptible.
Problem is, politics are at the very heart of how a democratic society works. (To be continued)
