I saw some anti-Obama posts being made on various sites referencing a Rasmussen Reports poll saying "56% disagree with Obama small town comments!"
That seemed distressing so I took a look to see if there was any push polling questions, and while the questions seem fair, the answers seem quite contradictory:
http://rasmussenreports.com/...
First theres this:
Obama said that in small towns in Pennsylvania, people “cling to guns or religion or antipathy to people who aren't like them or anti-immigrant sentiment or anti-trade sentiment as a way to explain their frustrations." Do you agree or disagree?
25% Agree
56% Disagree
19% Not sure
Okay, so right away theres concern and there's relief. The numbers thrown around in the headline and by anti-Obama posters is specific to the mangled guns and religion quote. That's not surprising and frankly, not that objectionable.
Next!
Senators Clinton and McCain said Obama’s comments showed he was out of touch with hardworking Americans. Do Obama’s comments reflect an elitist view of small-town America?
45% Yes
37% No
18% Not sure
That's not good. Let's just move on and see if this continueandWHAT? WHATS THIS?
In response, Obama said, “No, I'm in touch. I know exactly what's going on. I know what's going on in Pennsylvania, I know what's going in Indiana, I know what's going in Illinois. People are fed up. They're angry and they're frustrated and they're bitter, and they want to see a change in Washington.” Do you agree or disagree?
56% Agree
32% Disagree
12% Not sure
Ladies and gentlemen, how does this happen? We are being led down this one path where Obama is seen as elitist and wrong... but 'bitter' plays, and it plays strong.
In addition, note this quote starts "Im in touch"
So what have we learned if this poll is accurate?
Either Obama has a big problem with the religion/guns part and an elitism problem, or he can successfully undo the problem with his 'in touch' speech, or simply X amount saw enough of the 'bitter' quote as completely separate from the 'cling' quote. Or we can say "its Rasmussen" and move on. Either or at worst doesn't this seem like a see saw, and that the Rasmussen headline went for the negative rather than the results showing Obama to be in touch?