Today's www.washingtonpost.com headlines and abstracts form a work of art

The pundits are united in declaring the Tea Party convention a huge success.

Opinions

Behind the radicalism
Dionne: Why the Tea Party movement is on the rise, and why the GOP can't give it what it wants.
Ignatius: Europe needs Tea Party

Broder: We have to take Sarah Palin seriously
Milbank: Heavy shoveling from party machines
Will: Republican hopes rise in California
Marcus: Can a gay judge ban gay marriage?

They are experts who can explain the public to official Washington (odd I thought their job was to explain things to the public).

There is only one problem. The public doesn't understand itself the same way the pundits do. There is also a poll

Both parties viewed negatively
POST-ABC NEWS POLL | Americans are unhappy with government, but few know much about the "tea party;" Palin's political standing takes hit.

Ooops. Turns out you can't understand what the US public thinks from watching TV.

Results from the poll

Although Palin is a tea party favorite, her potential as a presidential hopeful takes a severe hit in the survey. Fifty-five percent of Americans have unfavorable views of her, while the percentage holding favorable views has dipped to 37, a new low in Post-ABC polling.

There is a growing sense that the former Alaska governor is not qualified to serve as president, with more than seven in 10 Americans now saying she is unqualified, up from 60 percent in a November survey. Even among Republicans, a majority now say Palin lacks the qualifications necessary for the White House.

Oh my.

And the Tea Party movement ?

The new poll shows Republicans divided about the tea party movement, which threatens to cause a rift in the lead-up to November's midterm elections. Two-thirds of those calling themselves "strong Republicans" view the movement favorably, compared with 33 percent among "not very strong Republicans."

Overall opinion is about evenly split, with 35 percent of all Americans holding favorable views of the movement and 40 percent unfavorable ones.

But the main point, stressed in the abstract, is that "nearly two-thirds of those polled say they know just some, very little or nothing about what the tea party movement stands for." Here US adults are showing sophistication not ignorance, since it is clear that the tea party movement doesn't know what it stands for either.

The headline person managed to make the pundits look like naive fools. I assume this is because they insulted him or her and that the actual columns, which I haven't read, are not utter idiocy.

update: I wish I'd written that. Josh Marshall shows why TPM gets so many more hits than this blog

Ya Think?
More than 70% say Palin is not qualified or equipped to serve as president. A steep decline from on last fall.

But a quarter of the population and David Broder ain't nuthin'.


--Josh Marshall