Great Moments in the Annals of Polling

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GREAT MOMENTS IN THE ANNALS OF POLLING….From a recent ABC News poll:

Eighty-five percent of Republicans view Palin favorably, and nearly nine in 10 approve of her selection as Sen. John McCain’s running mate.

….Partisan lenses also color views of whether Palin has the necessary experience to serve as president if that became necessary and whether the news media have treated her fairly in her first week in the spotlight. Forty-two percent of all Americans think she is sufficiently prepared. Among Republicans, however, 74 percent believe she is, a figure that is more than three times higher than among Democrats.

Italics mine. If I’m reading this right, about 89% of Republicans approve of the Palin pick, but only 74% believe she’s prepared to be president. This means that 15% of Republicans approve of their nominee choosing a running mate who’s unprepared to succeed him if necessary. Analysis is left as an exercise for the reader.

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It’s risky, but also unavoidable: A full one-third of the dollars that we need to pay for the journalism you rely on has to get raised in December. A good December means our newsroom is fully staffed, well-resourced, and on the beat. A bad one portends budget trouble and hard choices.

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We simply can’t afford to come up short. There is no cushion in our razor-thin budget—no backup, no alternative sources of revenue to balance our books. Corporations and powerful people with deep pockets will never sustain the fierce journalism we do. That’s why we need you to show up for us right now.

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