Scott Rasmussen polled the New York Times, and the results are grim:

Just 24% of American voters have a favorable opinion of the New York Times. Forty-four percent (44%) have an unfavorable opinion and 31% are not sure.

Worse yet:

The paper’s ratings are much like a candidate’s and divide sharply along partisan and ideological lines. By a 50% to 18% margin, liberal voters have a favorable opinion of the paper. By a 69% to 9%, conservative voters offer an unfavorable view. The newspaper earns favorable reviews from 44% of Democrats, 9% of Republicans, and 17% of those not affiliated with either major political party.

There is a lesson here: if a newspaper devotes its resources and its inherited goodwill with the public over a period of decades to advance the interests of one of our political parties, sooner or later people will notice.

Pinch Sulzburger has frittered away his inheritance, as is evident from these numbers on the Times' recent attack on John McCain:

Of those who followed the story, 66% believe it was an attempt by the paper to hurt the McCain campaign. Just 22% believe the Times was simply reporting the news.

New York Times, RIP.