A new poll from the Pew Research Center shows that the top one-word associations held by Americans about presumptive Republican nominee Mitt Romney are "honest" (32 percent), "businessman" (31 percent), and "rich" (31 percent), followed by "good," "conservative," and "Republican."
In dramatic contrast, main stream establishment journalists are noting that the Romney campaign is extraordinarily dishonest. I am also shocked that the Washington Post Editorial board, which is clearly right of center, denounced Paul Ryan's dishonesty. This is an extraordinary event.
Of course there is no way that Ryan could have given such a dishonest speech if Romney were honest, since Romney had to approve the speech.
There couldn't be a huger gap between the views of the general public and of everyone who checks Romney's claims of fact.
I guess this is reason for some hope. It seems that journalists are informing the public about the fact that Romney lies extraordinarily often for an unscrupulous politician.
It is true that the 32% is a plurality and close to the crazification factor (27%). I'd guess that most of the 32% don't believe news sources other than Fox. But I do think the huge gap between perception and reality amounts to a vulnerability. Many voters will remain ignorant on election day, but others will start paying attention about now.
1 comment:
I dunno. Many of the crazy 27 percent spent a lot of time last year fuming about Romney's mendacity, as when he claimed not to have seen an anti-Newt attack ad. I think it's possible that many low-information people only know Romney as the seemingly-sane guy arguing with Bachman, Perry, Cain, and Santorum. Also, you can't deny that Mitt has really honest-looking hair.
-Will
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