Fox News asks voters, ‘How much do you think Barack Obama loves America?’

June 19, 2008

There’s something eminently entertaining about Fox News polls, in large part because the network includes questions in its polls that no other news outlet would even consider. In this case, that’s not a compliment.

In the poll (.pdf) released this afternoon, the big question, of course, was about the horserace in the general election. Fox News has Obama leading McCain nationwide by three, 42% to 39%. That’s not wildly inconsistent with other recent national polls.

I noticed, though, that according to this poll, Nader is pulling 4%, and Bob Barr is pulling 2%. In fact, according to Fox News, 10% of self-identified independents say they’re backing Nader. This, of course, doesn’t make any sense at all, and skews the results in such a way as to make the poll less reliable.

But never mind that, let’s get to the questions that only Fox News would ask.

* “Recently there’s been some discussion about presidential candidates wearing or not wearing American flag lapel pins. Do you care whether a candidate is wearing an American flag lapel pin or not?”

Keep in mind, putting a national poll in the field is expensive. A pollster has to be selective about which questions to include — and Fox News decided flag lapel pins are just that important. For what it’s worth, 66% of Americans said they don’t care about pins, while 31% said they do. (The numbers were far closer among Republicans, 40% of whom care about flap lapel pins.)

* “How proud would you be to have Barack Obama/John McCain as president?”

Now, this is odd. How “proud” would I be? For what it’s worth, I don’t think respondents offered the answers Fox News was looking for — 20% said they would be “extremely” proud with Obama, while 17% said “very” proud and 28% said “somewhat” proud. For McCain, it was 12% who would be “extremely” proud, 17% “very” proud, and 37% “somewhat” proud.

But this is my favorite:

* “How much do you think Barack Obama/John McCain loves America?”

Only Fox News. 48% said Obama loves America “a great deal,” whereas 64% said the same of McCain.

* “I’m going to read you the names of several individuals and groups. Please tell me whether you have a generally favorable or unfavorable opinion of each one.”

Oddly enough, ratings for McCain and Obama were absolutely identical: 58% favorable, 32% unfavorable, 10% can’t say.

* “If the United States were hit with another terrorist attack, would you feel more comfortable with Barack Obama or John McCain as president?”

As it happens, Fox News asked the same question in September, when the network thought we’d have a Giuliani vs. Clinton general election. At the time, 50% would feel more comfortable with Giuliani, while 36% preferred Clinton. Ten months later, the results were almost identical for McCain vs. Obama.

This one was my second favorite:

* “Do you think Bill and Hillary Clinton have put together a so-called enemies list or a list of people they thought were their friends but who supported Barack Obama instead of Hillary in the Democratic Primary?”

I swear I’m not making this up. Fox News actually paid lots of money to ask Americans if they believe the Clintons have an enemies list. Why? What possible reason could the network have for asking this question, especially given that Clinton is no longer a candidate?

Fox News sure is funny, in a pathetic kind of way.

I’d say Fox News is sickening, in a pathetic kind of way.

Hopefully they will destroy what’s left of their credibility this election cycle, and by November they will be nothing but a laughingstock parody.

  • My personal favorite:

    “If a candidate for president wore an American flag lapel pin in the past and then announced that he or she would no longer wear a flag pin, would that make you have some doubts about the person’s patriotism or not?”

    Second favorite:

    “Oprah Winfrey (favorable/unfavorable)
    17-18 Jun 08 53% 31 15 1
    Democrats 64% 25 11 –
    Republicans 42% 41 15 1
    Independents 52% 25 21 2
    18-19 Dec 07 55% 33 11 1
    11-12 Sep 07 68% 21 10 1
    22-23 Apr 98 77% 12 10 1”

  • Wow. “Barack Obama loves America thiiiiiiiiis much! (arms outstretched)” wasn’t an available answer?

    I do love how Obama seems to stimulate the portion of ‘winger brains that makes them increasingly spittle-flecked and desperate. I believe it’s right around the hippocampus.

  • I feel the same way about flag pins that I do about fish symbols on cars and business signs. If one has to advertise it, be leery and approach with caution!

  • Pretty sickening stuff. But just one thing, you said only Fox would have questions like that. CNN had a (internet, so somewhat different) poll about Obama’s patriotism. “Do you think Obama is patriotic enough” or some such nonsense.

  • Just think of the questions they probably rejected to come up with this list:

    “Does the color of black skin make you feel funny?”

    “Are Muslims automatically terrorists, or just unpatriotic?”

    “Who’s whiter and more patriotic: John McCain or Barack OSAMA?”

    “Who do you feel more comfortable with acting as commander-in-chief, considering that congress and the senate is dominated by white, older, Christian males?”

    “Will McCain be a great President, or the Greatest President?”

    “Will Obama be a terrible President, or the worst President this nation has ever seen?”

    I could go on; I’ve got pages of this.

  • I’m impressed that Fox Propaganda’s poll, with its strange questions, turned out as favorably for Obama as it did.

    I’m glad that you keep me posted on what Fox Propaganda is up to, CB. There is no way that I would ever watch anything there.

    Ironically, Al Jazeera is a much more reliable news source than Fox. They even allow dissenting viewpoints to be aired!

  • Just sad.

    What will Fox do when Obama decides to just ignore they ass after 1/21/09?

  • From now on, I’m calling Fox News what they really are: the Republican News Network. .RNN for short.

  • I will never understand how they think wearing a flag pin makes you patriotic. And when you consider most of those who push this in your face are the same ones who got out of serving their country during Vietnam and other conflicts it is the absolute height of hypocracy. I did serve this country as a Marine and still get a lump in my throat when I see the flag come by in a parade or see the flag draped casket of a veteran, the real patriots. The flag from my fathers casket sits in a place of honor in my home. But I will not ever ware a flag pin on any piece of clothing ever again as it is falsh patriatisom. Fox News is an embarrassment. to this country.

  • More political masturbation from Fox’s jerk you off team.

    Who do you think a terrorist would more likely surrender to…Mc or O.?

    Which is more likely to start a war?

  • But this is my favorite:

    * “How much do you think Barack Obama/John McCain loves America?”,/i>

    Was there space for a write-in answer? Because I would have said “More than you demagoguing a-holes.”

  • Do you strongly disagree or very strongly disagree with hippos on campus

  • Probably the work of a summer, college intern hired as a favor to one of their favored politicos. Do we expect anything but mediocrity from the networks anyway? Good enough fills the time between commercial breaks.

    More good material for the Simpsons’ writers to work with.

  • Okay, let’s do our own poll here.

    1.) Do you wear your FOX lapel pin (a) 24/7/365, (b) only on national holidays and whenever the US flag is flown at half-mast, or (c) never?

    2.) If FOX were found to be a corrupt political network that bends the truth for profit, would you expect them to (a) admit it to the American people within 24 hours of the story breaking and say to hell with the profit, (b) ignore the truth about their corruption and lie through their teeth for the sake of profit, or (c) blame someone else for their corruption?

    3.) Would you want grandchildren by way of allowing Bill-O to marry your under-aged daughter?

  • On Fox in Los Angeles, 6/18/08, they were asking “If Obama is elected, will it still be called the White House?”

  • Fox News asks voters, ‘How much do you think Barack Obama loves America?’

    Infinity times infinity at least.

    I would like to see Republicans wear a flag pin and stab it into their necks as many times as it took for them to lose consciousness. No wait, that’s an M. Night Shyamalan movie.

  • Fox News asks voters, ‘How much do you think Barack Obama loves America?’

    For balance, they should ask, ‘How much do you think John McCain loves his wife?’ or perhaps ‘How much do you trust John McCain to be President, given how old he is?’ You know, questions in which there’s an automatic answer but which, by the simple posing of the question, calls the automatic answer into question.

  • Just another reason to cancel your cable subscription. Seriously this is what passes as ‘news’ on cable stations. They all largely have right-wingers and pundits as hosts (Dobbs, Carlson, O’Reilly, Buchanan, Gibson, Scarborough, Kristol, Beck, etc). How does anyone expect any information being passed through them to be objective (sorry Keith Olbermann, while you’re one of the few good ones, MSNBC finally wised up and now publishes many of your editorials online).

    Instead, Faux offers up this kind of crap as news.

    Back in 2006 when I was cancelling my service with Comcast, the phone rep asked why. I said that I refuse to pay another dime for garbage like Faux and the like. She asked if they could simply cut those off; would I continue the service. I replied that wasn’t what I wanted, as in her scenario they would still charge me for it (she agreed that was the case).

    So you see, these cable companies can offer selected channels. They know that if they do, people like me would catch on and not bother with Faux or any of the others.

    So I simply cancelled the service. The only way Faux et al is going to disappear is if people stop their subscriptions. All these media corporations understand is revenue. Stop watching them, paying for them, or paying attention to them, and eventually they will go away.

  • “Fox News sure is funny, in a pathetic kind of way.”

    I’ll laugh when the neocons dance on the end of a rope.

  • For balance, they should ask, ‘How much do you think John McCain loves his wife?’

    Which one? The one he cheated on and divorced, or the cunt-trollop?

  • If a candidate for president wore a Swastika flag lapel pin in the past and then announced that he or she would no longer wear a Swastika pin, would that make you have some doubts about the person’s patriotism or not?”

    Der Fochs News Poll, Germany, 1940

    absa-fuckin ridiculous.
    Do the troops really give a shit who wears a pin? Do the Iraqis?
    Fox is empty.Want to kick Murdoch where it hurts? Kick him in the wallet. Don’t support their sponsors or anything connected to Fox.
    Loss of revenue. I used to watch Fox before Murdoch took over. They were the brash new kids on the block, and had potential. Now it’s a network full of mysoginists. They hire bimbos in tight skirts and frat boys- that’s what you get.

  • 10% of self-identified independents say they’re backing Nader. I consider myself a indy and after watching the Dems can you blame the 10%? I can’t.

  • * “How proud would you be to have Barack Obama/John McCain as president?”

    Nobody should be able to answer this.

    I’d be proud of Americans who voted for Obama as it suggests having overcome racism to a degree few probably believed possible.

    For Obama himself?

    It’s not enough to get elected. I
    ‘ll be proud if he does the things he says he’ll do. (and maybe a few he hasn’t the freedom to talk about, but should)
    (health care, withdraw promptly from Iraq, prosecute the previous administration’s criminals, etc.)

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