Charles Krauthammer on biased NYT/CBS poll

Posted Fri, Jun 1, 2007 at 2:10 pm
One of the few remaining (previous?) Bush supporters offers "It Doesn't Take Einstein to See What's Wrong with This Bill". The bill is the Senate's illegal immigration amnesty bill, and he starts with a discussion of the VIP visas, followed by points covered here days ago:
...But the campaign for legalization does not stop at stupidity and farce. It adds mendacity as well — such as the front-page story in last Friday's New York Times claiming that "a large majority of Americans want to change the immigration laws to allow illegal immigrants to gain legal status."

Sounds unbelievable. And it is. A Rasmussen poll had shown that 72 percent of Americans thought border enforcement and reducing illegal immigration to be very important. Only 29 percent thought legalization to be very important. Indeed, when a different question in the Times poll — one that did not make the front page — asked respondents if they wanted to see illegal immigrants prosecuted and deported, 69 percent said yes.

I looked for the poll question that justified the pro-legalization claim. It was question 61. Just as I suspected, it was perfectly tendentious. It gave the respondent two options: (a) allow illegal immigrants to apply for legalization (itself a misleading characterization because the current bill grants instant legal status to all non-criminals), or (b) deport them.

Surprise. Sixty-two percent said (a). That’s like asking about abortion: Do you favor (a) legalization or (b) capital punishment for doctor and mother? There is of course a third alternative: what we’ve been living with for the last 20 years — a certain tolerance of illegal immigrants that allows 12 million to stay and work but denies them most of the privileges and government payouts reserved for legal citizens, and thus acts as at least a mild disincentive to even more massive illegal immigration...

Comments

D Flinchum (not verified)

Sat, 06/02/2007 - 12:44

This is great news. On several occasions, I have sent letters to the editor noting how biased the polling questions were that gave the MSM its figures that most people support amnesty. I got zero printed. CK already has a forum. Good for him. What this deceptive polling does is create the illusion with people who are against amnesty that they are out of step with the majority of Americans when in fact they are mainstream, and it is the open-borders zealots who are out of step. This deception probably doesn't change their views at all but it does make them less likely to speak out on the issue, contact their representatives etc. And that is the whole idea.

Anonymous (not verified)

Sat, 06/02/2007 - 14:08

lou stay with the american people we need more people like you . the people we thought that were for the american people seem to be hideing when we need them the most.i watch you every night and can't believe i am being called names by saying we need border close to protect our country.

eh (not verified)

Sun, 06/03/2007 - 03:47

Unfortunately, the Mr Hyde side of Krauthammer is a neocon Jew and big time shill for the Iraq war [1].

Links:
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[1] www.bluemassgroup.com/showDiary.do?diaryId=7214

D Flinchum (not verified)

Sun, 06/03/2007 - 14:43

The War in Iraq gets plenty of press and the MSM isn't shy about bashing Bush on this issue. Nearly all that you see in the MSM about immigration is how they are doing "the jobs that American won't do", how impossible it would be to do anything about illegal aliens other than to grant them amnesty, and tear-jerk stories about how their children miss their daddies. I am constantly stunned at how little my friends, who tend to keep up with national issues, know about immigration issues OTHER than the drek they see in the WaPo, which is so slanted on this issue that it's hard to tell what's editorial and what's "news".