The New York Times can’t

The New York Times can’t even be relied on to report accurately on its own polls. Andrew Sullivan, for one, has skewered the Times for repeatedly mischaracterizing its own data. Today the headline reads, “In Poll, Americans Say Both Parties Lack Clear Vision.” Well, sort of. Actually, the New York Times/CBS News poll data indicate that by a 42% to 39% margin, Americans think Republicans do have a clear plan for the country, while by a 49% to 31% margin, the Democrats do not have a clear plan. But, hey, who’s counting? It’s only a poll. The generic Congressional preference question also favored the Republicans by an unusually wide seven point margin, 47% to 40%. I don’t attach much significance to this finding; nothing has happened in the past few days to cause that much of a swing toward the Republicans. (Most of the polling was completed before Tuesday’s Wellstone fiasco.) It does provide some assurance, however, that the Democrats’ last-ditch attacks haven’t been very effective.

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