FOX "News" Skews Poll on Military Support for McCain

The FOX "News" website (and probably the channel) hyped a poll today that showed overwhelming support for John McCain by the active military. The poll did show that, but when you go to the source material--something most readers probably didn't do--you find that the poll heavily oversampled older people. This gives a rather unclear result, at least in my opinion.

Defenders of FOX "News"--not coincidentally almost always conservatives--will often staunchly argue that the channel is Fair and Balanced, just like their slogan insists. These defenders will say that yes, Sean Hannity and Bill O'Reilly are conservative, but that the rest of the line-up is "straight news." This story points out how FOX regularly skews even the straight news to their conservative view point.

[Excerpt]

Poll Suggests U.S. Troops Support McCain 3-1

A poll by the Military Times newspaper group suggests that there is overwhelming support for John McCain among U.S. troops in every branch of the armed forces by a nearly 3-1 margin.

According to the poll, 68 percent of active-duty and retired servicemen and women support McCain, while 23 percent support Barack Obama. The numbers are nearly identical among officers and enlisted troops. . .

[Excerpt]

Military Times poll: Troops backing McCain

. . .Conversely, junior enlisted troops, women and racial and ethnic minorities made up a smaller share of the sample than of the military at large. While it is difficult to predict how those factors affect the results, those groups are generally regarded as more supportive of Democratic candidates. . .

First Excerpt: FOX "News"

Second Excerpt: Military Times

Thanks to Stupid Monkey Planet for the link.