CNN Poll: Double-digit post-speech jump for Obama plan45%? Talk about skew. CNN is misrepresenting their poll in a big way. First of all, that should have been the first thing that CNN said in their story. This poll is not representitive of the American Population.
WASHINGTON (CNN) — Two out of three Americans who watched President Barack Obama's health care reform speech Wednesday night favor his health care plans — a 14-point gain among speech-watchers, according to a CNN/Opinion Research Corporation national poll of people who tuned into Obama's address Wednesday night to a joint session of Congress.
Sixty-seven percent of people questioned in the survey say the support Obama's health care reform proposals that the president outlined in his address, with 29 percent opposed. Those figures are almost identical to a poll conducted immediately after Bill Clinton's health care speech before Congress in September, 1993.
The audience for the speech appears to be more Democratic than the U.S. population as a whole. Because of this, the results may favor Obama simply because more Democrats than Republicans tune into the speech. The poll surveyed the opinions of people who watched Wednesday night's speech, and does not reflect the views of all Americans.
About one in seven people who watched the speech changed their minds on Obama's health care plan. "Going into the speech, a bare majority of his audience — 53 percent — favored his proposals. Immediately after the speech, that figure rose to 67 percent," says CNN Polling Director Keating Holland. "But the real question is whether those conversions will last. Bill Clinton got similar numbers after his 1993 address to Congress, but five months later a majority of the country no longer supported his plan."
Fifty-six percent of people questioned say they had a very positive reaction to the speech, with 21 percent indicating they had a somewhat positive reaction and a equal amount suggesting they had a negative reaction. The 56 percent who said they had a very positive reaction is lower than the 68 percent of speech watchers who had a similar reaction to the president's first address to a joint session of Congress in February.
More than seven in ten say that Obama clearly stated his goals, with one in four saying he didn't express his goals clearly.
Three out of four say it's very or somewhat likely that the president will pass most of his proposals on health care reform through Congress, with one in four saying it's unlikely.
Seven in 10 say that Obama's policies will move the country in the right direction, up 10 points from before the speech.
The CNN/Opinion Research Corporation poll was conducted just before and just after the president's speech, with 427 adult Americans questioned by telephone. The survey's sampling error is plus or minus 5 percentage points.
The sample of speech-watchers in this poll was 45 percent Democratic and 18 percent Republican. Our best estimate of the number of Democrats in the voting age population as a whole indicates that the sample is about 8-10 points more Democratic than the population as a whole.
But wait, you say, the poll is taking a look at the change in support, is party affiliation really important? Yes it is. Supporters of Obama will be more likely to be supportive of his message. The Poll would also be fake if it skewed toward Republicans, who would be more likely not to support the President's message.
Shame on CNN for deceiving the public again. Another reason why we should not believe a word they say about the president, they are clearly in his pocket.
1 comment:
I think this poll is fishy for another reason. There was a woman quoting figures from this poll on Sean Hannity's show right after Obama's speech. I don't see how any legitimate poll could have come out that fast.
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