posted on March 30, 2007 09:09:53 AM new
Top 10 Election Falsehoods, Myths and Talking Points
Conservative Misinformation and Coverage of the 2006 Midterm Elections
Washington, DC - With the midterm elections only one day away, the increasing media coverage has carried with it an onslaught of conservative misinformation. Media Matters for America has compiled some of the more common examples of the top falsehoods, myths and Republican and conservative talking points.
Ranging from baselessly claiming the American public favors Republicans on national security, taxes and fiscal responsibility, to the myth that the Democrats, if they win the majority in the House, will drown the Bush administration with investigations, many in the media have uncritically reported on many issues surrounding the elections and touted many false conservative talking points.
Top 10 Election Falsehoods, Myths and Talking Points
1. American voters favor Republicans on national security.
Many in the media -- such as ABC News political director Mark Halperin, New York Times reporter Sheryl Gay Stolberg, and CNN White House correspondent Suzanne Malveaux -- have either uncritically reported or asserted that "national security" or "terrorism" are Republican "strengths." MSNBC host Chris Matthews, meanwhile, has stated that "Republicans know from the polls they got two strengths right now" -- "terrorism" and "[t]axes" -- and then added: "[W]hether the current polls back that up or not."
In fact, recent polling undermines these assertions, indicating that Americans favor Democrats by a significant margin when asked whom they trust more to handle the specific national security-related issue of the war in Iraq. And recent polling is mixed on which party respondents prefer to handle the issue of terrorism.
IRAQ
Newsweek poll, October 26-27: Democrats -- 45 percent; Republicans --33 percent
CNN poll, October 20-22: Democrats -- 51 percent; Republicans -- 40 percent
Washington Post/ABC News poll, October 19-22: Democrats -- 48 percent; Republicans -- 40 percent
NBC/Wall Street Journal poll, October 13-16: Democrats -- 39 percent; Republicans -- 31 percent
USA Today/Gallup poll, October 6-8: Democrats -- 52 percent; Republicans -- 35 percent
TERRORISM
Newsweek poll, October 26-27: Republicans -- 40 percent; Democrats -- 39 percent
CNN poll, October 20-22: Republicans 48 percent; Democrats -- 42 percent
Washington Post/ABC News poll, October 19-22: Democrats --44 percent; Republicans -- 43 percent
NBC/Wall Street Journal poll, October 13-16: Republicans -- 35 percent; Democrats -- 25 percent
USA Today/Gallup poll, October 6-8: Democrats -- 46 percent; Republicans -- 41 percent
Even though Republicans have an edge on handling terrorism in some recent polls, these numbers represent a significant decline in the advantage Republicans had on the terrorism issue prior to the 2002 midterm elections; in late October 2002 (subscription required), a CNN/Gallup poll found a 29-point (52 percent to 23 percent) Republican advantage on the issue of terrorism.
2. The public favors Republicans on the issues of taxes and fiscal responsibility.
Several media figures -- including Halperin, Matthews, and MSNBC chief White House correspondent Norah O'Donnell -- have baselessly asserted that the issue of "taxes" is one of Republicans' current strengths. But as Media Matters has noted, recent polling shows that more Americans trust Democrats than Republicans to handle the issue of taxes. For example, the most recent Pew Research Center for the People and the Press poll on the subject, from October 22, showed a 40 percent-to-32 percent Democratic advantage on the issue. And according to an October 26-27 Newsweek poll, Americans also trust Democrats over Republicans to handle "federal spending and the deficit" by a 16-point margin, 47 percent to 31 percent.
