Posted by
Andrews on Sunday, March 30, 2008 8:00:56 PM
Has anyone ever seen those strange poll results on economic satisfaction? Something like 80%, even 90%, say they are satisfied with their own economic situation, but they think the economy as a whole is in bad shape. In other words, everyone thinks they are doing fine, but everyone else is in sad shape. It makes no sense. At least, unless we consider the role of the media.
The media has a remarkable ability to turn good news into bad, and to pick stories of individual crises which they turn into "parables" to prove the whole economy is tanking. And then they act surprised that people are dissatisfied with the state of the economy.
I think something similar is at work with the low presidential and congressional approval numbers.
Admittedly, neither Bush nor the current congress is inspiring, but they are no worse than a number of others we have had in recent memory. In addition, it just makes no sense that both are so despised. Except for a dedication to big government, they have very little in common, so their approval ratings should not be so close.*
The only explanation I can see is the constant media drum beat against Bush. Day after day the media tells the nation that everyone hates Bush, they publicize low poll numbers, and it becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy. People become convinced that something must be wrong with Bush if everyone hates him so much, and the numbers drop even lower.
Not that Bush would be doing well if the media did not so despise him. He would still doubtless have some strong negatives. His base is clearly unhappy with his attempts to work with the Democrats, his big government solutions, and his unwillingness to veto anything. The opposition is unhappy with the war, with stories of abuses at Guantanamo, and with any number of other anti-Bush stories that have emerged from the media over the past eight years. But if we look at the policies of which people approve or disapprove, even including the war, we see that Bush's low approval rating is far lower than it really should be given his positions and the public's support of the same.
And we can see this in the low ratings congress is getting. Some of it is due to congress itself. Pelosi's amateur diplomacy, Harry Reid's droning scolds on whatever topic strikes his fancy, the attempts to push through amnesty, and the general incompetence and arrogance of congress. But, again, the public's polling results on specific issues, and the congressional majority's positions, just do not seem to support the incredibly low polling for congress either.
It only makes sense if we accept that the public at large does not so finely distinguish between the various branches of government. They tend to lay everything at the president's doorstep, as he is the most obvious face of government. On the other hand, whatever they feel about the president also tends to bleed over and taint their view of the rest of the government as well.
All of which means that the media's drumbeat of doom and constant refrain of the Bush administration's incompetence had the unwanted effect of making the public despise congress as well.
Of course, I may be wrong, and the public may be expressing well reasoned dislike of both congress and the president. But, given the very different positions of the two, I tend to think it unlikely that both would be equally despised were the dislike based upon performance alone.
-------------------------------------
* It is clear big government positions do not lower approval ratings or we would not have the government we have today. Nor would we have the nominees we have in the current primaries. The public does not seem to have any problem with big government per se. They may express dislike for big government that does not work right (eg. welfare), and they often may think taxes are too high, but so long as it isn't too costly, and it appears to be working, it does not appear that the public is terribly disturbed by the size of government alone.
----------------------------------------
UPDATED 04/25/2008
Best of the Web had a very similar quote today:
It is frequently observed that Americans in opinion polls tend to be
optimistic about their own financial situation but pessimistic about
everyone else's. A big reason may be that reporters from places like
the Monitor and the Globe grab their mirrors and search out those who
are having trouble, leading readers to believe that their specially
selected sources are representative of "everyone else."
It is nice to see that I am hardly alone in thinking that the media often finds the negative story it is seeking, and this selective reporting colors the public impression of the public in general, despite the public's generally optimistic views of their own situation.