On Wednesday's CBS Evening News, Scott Pelley cherry-picked
the most favorable result for President Obama in the most recent CBS
News/New York Times poll. Pelley stated how "this campaign, of course,
is, in large part, a battle for the middle class," and touted that "when
we asked voters in our poll which candidate would do more to help the middle class, 52 percent said President Obama, 38 percent Mitt Romney."
The anchor failed to mention several negative findings for the President from the poll [1],
including how 64 percent of registered voters thought the Democrat's
policies were at least partially to blame for the bad economy, and that
60 percent say that Romney's leadership of Bain Capital won't effect the
way they vote in November.
Pelley did note how the Obama and Romney are in a dead heat, but added the context of how most voters are apparently not satisfied with their choices in the presidential race:
PELLEY: Tonight, our new poll in the presidential race shows most voters don't seem to like their choices. The CBS News/New York Times poll asked voters their preference. Forty-seven percent said Mitt Romney; 46 percent President Obama. But only 36 percent have a favorable opinion of the President, and only 32 percent view Governor Romney favorably. Maybe those negative campaign ads are working.
The
CBS anchor then turned to correspondent Dean Reynolds, who filed a
report on the most recent negative ads from both campaigns. Once the
journalist's report concluded, Pelley returned to the poll and played up
the 52 percent figure for Obama.
Earlier in the day, on Wednesday's CBS This Morning, Charlie
Rose and Norah O'Donnell mentioned two different figures from their
network's poll that didn't look good for the President:
CHARLIE ROSE: We turn now to campaign 2012. A new CBS News/New York Times poll out this morning includes some
numbers that President Obama will not be happy to hear. Republicans are
much more excited about the upcoming presidential election than
Democrats. Forty-eight percent of Mitt Romney's voters describe
themselves as enthusiastic, compared to only 23 percent of people
supporting the President.
NORAH O'DONNELL: The other bad news for the White House: people are still very concerned about the direction of the country.
Only 30 percent think we're headed in the right direction, and these
numbers come as both campaigns are fighting hard for the political upper
hand.
But like Pelley, neither Rose nor O'Donnell mentioned the bad economic marks for the Democratic incumbent.
Political reporter Brian Montopoli gave a further breakdown of these poor numbers for the President in a Wednesday item on CBSNews.com [2]:
Forty-six percent of registered voters - including more than
half of independents - say Mr. Obama's economic policies will never
improve the economy. Thirty-four percent, including 31 percent of independents, say his policies will improve the economy if given more time. Just 17 percent believe his policies are currently improving the economy.
When it comes to their personal financial situation, more voters believe the president's policies will make their economic situation worse
(39 percent) than improve it (26 percent). Presumptive Republican
presidential nominee Mitt Romney fares better: While 25 percent say his
policies will make their economic situation worse, a higher percentage -
32 percent - say his policies will improve their economic standing.