Bush Bounce Confounds the Media

NewsMax.com ^ | 11/24/04 | Carl Limbacher

[kattracks]

NewsMax.com's Fr. Michael Reilly notes that President Bush's approval ratings are on the rise again, much to the chagrin of the mainstream press.

The results of the first major post-election poll show a big bounce for President Bush, with a CNN/Gallup survey awarding Bush a 55 percent job approval rating, with only 42 percent disapproving.

What's more, Bush's personal popularity is 60 percent as opposed to 39 percent who do not approve. Administration officials are also registering strong approval numbers, with Colin Powell leading the pack at 87 percent. Condoleeza Rice wins a 63 percent approval rating while Vice President Cheney comes in at a healthy 53 percent.

Even the media's latest target, Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld has a 51 percent approval rating, with the Democrat's Darth Vader, Attorney General John Ashcroft winning a 50 percent approval rating.

The president's post-election bounce has undoubtedly startled much of the big media, who have been warning that a second Bush administration would be even "worse" than the first.

As NewsMax had reported before the election, the Center for Media and Public Affairs showed that John Kerry got the "best press ever" of any recent presidential candidate, with 58 percent positive coverage to Bush's 36 percent.

As Bush began to rise in the post-convention polls, the percetage of pro-Kerry coverage rose to 77 percent. Meanwhile, Bush's positive coverage slipped to 34 percent.

Now that the election is over and the media has less opportunity to pummel the president, his ratings are on the rise.

Imagine what the margin of Bush's victory would be if the press had covered the election fairly.

[wvobiwan]

Margin of victory with fair/balanced election coverage:

Bush: 72%
Kerry: 29%
Everyone else: 1%

The overwhelming left-wing bias in broadcast media was worth, I think, about 20 percentage points.

[vpintheak]

Can we say landslide under fair media coverage?

[wvobiwan]

Guess I can't add, make that 27% for Kerry....ooops.

[expatpat]

Everyone loves a winner!

I wonder if his rating might have been suppressed by the MSM pollsters before the election in order to affect the election? Nah, the 'rats would never do that!

[VOA]

Dear MSM,
We hate you that much, you liars and cheats.

Signed,
America

[peacebaby]

This is just KILLING the libs! I am so pleased.

[caisson71]

A confounded media? There's a new one? I've always considered them the confounding media.

[rightwingreligiousfanatic]

Heck, I'll bet even Halliburton's approval ratings are over 50%..... ;^)

Let the good times roll!

[alwaysconservative]

Dear Old Media: We are smarter than you, and your game didn't work. So there! We had a man of quality; you tried to shill for an empty shell.

Sincerely,

Satisfied President Bush voter.

[Eric in the Ozarks]

'swhat happens when the adults are in charge.

[wright2bear]

MSM is so full of pride that they just don't get it. The monster continues to fall.

Yes, I'm a newbie, but legit. Ask bmwcyle

[Billthedrill]

The thing the MSM is still in denial over is that to a large number of people a vote for Bush was a vote against them. Simply saying over and over again that they were non-partisan didn't seem to convince anyone but themselves.

[Texas Eagle]

Hell, the handle on the toilet tank confounds the media.

[Spok]

"Imagine what the margin of Bush's victory would be if the press had covered the election fairly."

The liberals really do have cause to pass out the cyanide pills.

[Will_Zurmacht]

I remember thinking the left wing media were way over the top with Bush-Hate all during the election.
I was stunned and shocked to see the media bash the President everyday, every chance they could get....and then watch them pump up Kerry and ignore anything bad about the guy.

I thought then that maybe it was just me, you know, and that I was hyper-sensitive to media bias.

But no, turns out I was just noticing the painfully obvious media bias, and I'm glad someone actually is reporting on the reporters.
This was about the worst I've ever seen, and I really think that without alternative media outlets, talk radio and the internet, the Lefties might have pulled off their coup.
Imagine if "Bush is a Guard Dodger", and "Bush Lost Weapons in Iraq" stories were ran as fact and never rebutted, like in the old days.

We just watched a billion dollar, multi-pronged, year long media assault on the President, and how he survived gives me a little hope in the American people.

[alwaysconservative]

Welcome to Free Republic! This is a great group of people, and I find so much energy here in reading the thoughtful, funny, and very smart posts (and tags). Hope you do too!

[Southack]

"The overwhelming left-wing bias in broadcast media was worth, I think, about 20 percentage points."

Most of the political class rated the media bias as being worth +10% to +15% for the Democrats.

So President Bush's 51% popular vote would have been between 61% and 66% with fair and balanced news coverage instead of "missing explosives" and forged National Guard documents and lies about boos at a pro-Bush rally, Abu Ghraib, etc.

Likewise, since the Old Media clearly can't keep up the level of negativity that they maintained in the home stretch of the election, President Bush's popularity rating will ease back up towards that 61% to 66% region over time.

[johnb838]

Isn't the silence blissful?

[johnb838]

I wanna buy. I wanna buy, buy, buy. I got a great new job, I didn't go broke when I was unemployed, my check is comin' and I want to buy something AMERICAN. If there's anything left.