A CNN Poll-Lashing

by JASmius

As Black Friday is off and limping, I bring you, free of charge, an antidote for your tryptophan overdoses.

First, another "direction of the country" polling story whose headline is less eye-grabbing than it looks at first, er, glance:

Americans are becoming even more pessimistic about the state of the nation, according to a new CNN/ORC International poll released Friday, with more than half saying conditions are going badly. 

The survey, conducted on November 18-20 of 843 adults, showed that 41%  believe conditions are going well, marking the lowest that number has been in a CNN poll since February 2012. 

Meanwhile, 59% say things are going badly, a number up nine points since the last poll in April.

In plain, non-Romulan English, the sheeple have finally crashed from their Hopenchange encore high in general, and gotten a heaping helping of ObamaCare terror in particular.  And, given that it's CNN, the actual numbers are probably worse than 41/59.

But not that much worse:

The opinions were along a partisan divide, as well as a difference of opinion between younger and older people. 

"There's a slight generational divide, with 46% of those under age fifty saying things are going well. That number drops to 36% for those fifty and older," said CNN Polling Director Keating Holland.

Which means...yeah, the numbers probably are genuinely worse.  But most Dems still don't want to be candid about their pessimism out of stubborn pride and tribal loyalty.  And the youngin's....nah, they're not smart enough to recognize how awful things are.

Could a fat man be our deliverer?  Within thirty minutes, free of charge?  CNN seems to want to think so:

A new national poll indicates New Jersey Governor Chris Christie would be an early frontrunner if he decides to jump into the race for the 2016 Republican presidential nomination. 

The CNN/ORC International survey, released Friday, indicates Christie, who won re-election in a landslide victory, leads the pack of potential contenders for the GOP nomination.... 

Twenty-four percent of Republicans and independents questioned in the survey polled said they'd support Christie, up seven percentage points from a CNN poll in September. Back then, Christie and Representative Paul Ryan of Wisconsin, the House Budget chairman and the 2012 Republican vice presidential nominee, were virtually tied, with Christie at 17% and Ryan at 16%.

But Ryan has dropped to 11%, behind Sen. Rand Paul of Kentucky, at 13%. Senator Ted Cruz of Texas garnered 10% in the survey, followed by Senator Marco Rubio of Florida at 9%, Texas Governor Rick Perry at 7%, and former Florida Governor Jeb Bush and former Senator Rick Santorum of Pennsylvania, each at 6%.

I bet you couldn't tell what a slow news day the day after turkey day is from the fact that even I, who loathe polling posts - particularly "horse race" polls more than two years before a single primary or caucus vote will be cast (assuming any will be permitted by the Regime) - and usually avoid them like fresh vegetables, am bowing to the inevitable.  A bet I will win because most of you probably aren't even awake yet from yesterday's gastronomic excesses.

Those few of you who are probably want some analysis of CNN's numbers.  Which reminds me of Jim Mora's old "Playoffs?" rant:





What's that?  Analysis?  You want me to talk about analysis?  Are you kidding me?  Analysis?  I just hope I can click the "publish" button.

But, alright, analysis: The media has anointed, for now, Governor Christie the 2016 Republican presidential frontrunner.  That's pretty much it, folks.  There's still a year to the 2014 midterms (if the Regime permits any more elections), nobody will declare until a few months after that, and nobody knows who will declare, although the Big Man will probably be difficult to keep from that particular buffet.

What CNN's poll is is their wish list, essentially.  If the GOP primaries were made up of their designated field, Double-C would steamroll everybody else on that list like Weird Al Yankovic in a fat suit doing a Michael Jackson parody video.  Cruz, Paul, and Rubio are all (1) freshman and (2) senators, and in any case would fragment and neutralize the Tea Party vote, Ryan isn't even a senator, Perry would be a retread, and Jeb Bush has that surname problem.

You'll note that CNN omitted any up-and-coming Tea Party governors like Wisconsin's Scott Walker, which the media can justify now on the grounds that they haven't faced re-election yet.  But that same logic underscores the irrelevance of the poll itself.  It's just preparing the enemy's internal battlefield long in advance, and otherwise entirely masturbatory.

So don't flip out about it.  As I've said before, don't fall for the media's enticements to fragment to can't-win candidates; unite behind a can-win TP governor like Scott Walker when the time comes, and give Chris Christie - and the media - a run for their - which is to say, our - money.

It'll be the only way to get it, and so much more, back.