NBC, CBS Skip Poll Showing Obama Tied or Losing to Republicans
The morning shows on NBC and CBS skipped a new Gallup poll finding Barack Obama either behind or tied with his Republican challengers. Only ABC's Good Morning America mentioned the stark numbers.
In an otherwise unrelated story on Sarah Palin, George Stephanopoulos briefly mentioned, "We're going to switch gears now to politics and there is a brand-new Gallup poll showing that the four top Republican candidates are all beating or tied with President Obama."
The Gallup survey released Monday shows the President losing to Mitt Romney 46 to 48. In a match-up with Texas Governor Rick Perry, the two men tie, 47-47. Even more interesting, in a face-off with Congresswoman Michele Bachmann, Obama leads only 48 to 44 percent. The poll has a four point margin of error.
Instead of covering the President's precarious electoral situation, the Early Show on CBS looked at the new trend of seniors getting plastic surgery.
On NBC, Today found time to highlight a couple who was married in Yankee Stadium– but not the poll.
The reporters on GMA, who did cover the survey, spent most of the segment speculating on whether Sarah Palin would run for President. John Berman relayed, "Just weeks after her splashy visit to the Iowa state fair that helped produce material for this glitzy, glossy, gauzy video."
Glossy? Good Morning America should know about that. On January 20, 2009, the morning show featured a very "glitzy" opening to celebrate Obama's inauguration.
To booming music, an announcer hyped, "This morning, a new dawn: Barack Obama sworn in as the 44th president of the United States. A new face from a new generation. Driven by an audacity to hope."
A transcript of the August 23 segment, which aired at 7:07am EDT, follows:
