This is a nice one:
http://www.rasmussenreports.com/publ...bility_ratings
It says:
"Pelosi remains the most unpopular congressional leader, however, as she has been for months. Fifty-two percent (52%) of voters have an unfavorable view of her..."
Man, that's an unpopular lady there! Most unpopular congressional leader. Man, that is something. People must really hate those Democrats. But they do say this just before:
"...Pelosi is now viewed favorably by 43% of U.S. voters..."
Huh. 43%. Doesn't sound so bad. And she's the most unpopular. I guess the Republicans are a lot higher than that, since she's the most unpopular and all. But waaaaaayyyyy down at the bottom of the article there's this:
"Twenty-seven percent (27%) now have a favorable view of the Ohio congressman, including eight percent (8%) with a very favorable view. The number of voters who view Boehner very favorably is at its highest level measured since February 2009..."
Hey, highest level in months! People really like that Boehner! But wait, isn't 27 < 43? Like, quite a bit less? How can they say Pelosi is the least popular?
Oh, did you catch it? They didn't say that. Didn't say "least popular". They said "most unpopular". See, the number of people who dislike her is larger than the number of people who dislike Boehner. So they're putting more weight on what people say they don't like than what they say they do like. Another way of putting this would be "While Pelosi is viewed unfavorably by a majority, she continues to be far more popular than minority leader John Boehner." But that didn't fit their agenda.
They do something similar with Obama's approval rating. The only count the extreme responses. Very favorable and very unfavorable. Subtract the one from the other and Obama has a *negative* approval rating. Man, people hate that Obama. All the folks in the middle don't count at all.