Editor's note: I hope you all will join me in welcoming to the Crooks and Liars team the esteemed Ellen, whom we've been reading (and citing) for years for her amazing work tracking Fox News at her own site, NewsHounds. We're going to be giving Ellen and her team of trackers an open slot here at C&L, and they're going to be using our videos as well. It's a dream match made in blog heaven. Enjoy! -- DN
After Fox News released polling results that were dismal for Mitt Romney, Fox's Gretchen Carlson advised viewers not to consider them as “real sincerity.”
In a write-up about the poll, the only plus for Romney FoxNews.com’s Dana Blanton seemed able to find was that “among voters who are ‘extremely’ interested in this year’s election, the races are much tighter.” Significantly, Blanton didn’t say that “extremely” interested meant any more likely to vote.
Predictably, Peter Doocy reiterated the “extremely interested” talking point on Fox & Friends this morning by suggesting – without coming out and saying – that they were likely to impact the vote. He said, “Once you isolate voters who are extremely interested in the election, the race is much closer.” Then he moved on to relay Mitt Romney and Paul Ryan’s bus tour schedule.
A few minutes later, the curvy couch crew revisited the polling. Brian Kilmeade said peevishly, “The polls don’t reflect the waves of publicity and these (recent) news stories.” He was referring to Fox's big non-bombshell of Obama's 1998 "redistribution" comment.
Carlson put in her explicit vote of no confidence in the poll:
I think one of the first times we should look at the polls in real sincerity is after one or two of the debates. Because hopefully the two candidates are going to be talking about the issues that the American people want to hear about and hopefully the questions will be fair to both parties and hopefully the American people will be able to decide who they want to run this country. Then I think the polls may actually reflect what we’re hearing from the two candidates when they’re standing on the same stage and they’re being asked the same questions.
