ATTACK OF THE CLONES

BRIT HUME & FRED BARNES


As I have blogged about in the past, certain rightwing bobbleheads have made it their mission to demonize current House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi in an effort to rile up the GOP base and make certain that Pelosi does not become House Speaker, assuming a Democratic takeover of the House this November. Bill O'Reilly fears for the future of the nation with a California liberal like Pelosi in charge of the House while Sean Hannity feels that keeping Pelosi from becoming House Speaker is something worth dying for.
On Sunday, another Fox bobblehead put forth his two cents in attacking Pelosi, this time pulling stuff directly from of his own posterior. Brit Hume had this to say about her (via http://mediamatters.org/items/200610150005):

Let's talk about this possibility -- it seems likely now, in almost all cards that the Democrats will get control of the House, which will bring us two years of Speaker Nancy Pelosi, who is not a popular figure or respected figure nationally. Her behavior will be more visible than ever, more conspicuous than ever. What effect does that have on the possibility of Hillary Clinton being nominated or even elected in 2008? I think it is a very good question. I suspect the effect would not be terrifically positive.

First of all, the claim by Hume that Pelosi is not a popular figure doesn't hold water. A full forty percent of those polled, according to a recent USA Today/Gallup poll either have never heard of her or have no opinion of her (35% have a favorable opinion with 26% unfavorable). Yet, she is "not a popular or respected figure"? And as for her effect on a potential Hillary Clinton presidential run, how would he 'suspect the effect would not be terrifically positive'? Did he use some special glasses or perhaps jump into Doc Brown's DeLorean with Marty and zoom forward to 2008 to see what two years of life under Speaker Pelosi would be like?

Of course, the lies didn't stop there, as The Weekly Standard executive editor Fred Barnes (a frequent guest on the "fair and balanced" news network) attempted to spin the same schlock about Pelosi's unpopularity, claiming, "[...] Pelosi is the most unpopular national politician in America." Is he out of his ever-loving mind?! I mean really, how did he actually write that last sentence without cracking up laughing? The intellectual dishonesty of the spinmeisters on the Right is enough to make a reality-based individual want to barf.
Excuse me for a moment while I borrow judiciously from Media Matters again:

Bush:
According to an October 10-11 Fox News/Opinion Dynamics Poll, 54 percent of respondents had an "unfavorable" opinion of Bush, compared with 43 percent who had a "favorable" opinion. The October 6-8 USA Today/Gallup poll put Bush's "unfavorable" rating at 55 percent.

Cheney:
An October 5-8 CBS News/New York Times poll put Cheney's "unfavorable" rating at 48 percent, compared with the 20 percent of respondents who had a "favorable" opinion of him.

Rumsfeld:
According to a September 22-24 CNN poll, 50 percent of respondents had an "unfavorable" opinion of Rumsfeld, compared with 35 percent who viewed him favorably. Moreover, the October 6-8 CNN poll found that a majority of respondents (52 percent) thought Rumsfeld should be fired as defense secretary, and 48 percent thought he should resign (compared to 41 percent who thought he should not).

Hastert:
The October 6-8 CNN poll found that 36 percent of respondents had an "unfavorable" opinion of Hastert, compared with 28 percent who viewed him favorably, 24 percent who had never heard of him, and 12 percent who were "unsure." The October 6-8 USA Today/Gallup poll also put Hastert's unfavorability rating at 36 percent, compared with 27 percent who viewed him favorably, 23 percent who had "no opinion," and 13 percent who had never heard of him.

Frist:
The October 6-8 CNN poll found that 36 percent of respondents had an "unfavorable" opinion of Frist, compared with 28 percent who viewed him favorably, 22 percent who had never heard of him, and 14 percent who were "unsure."

Sadly, this is all just a lame attempt to paint Pelosi as a scary ogre in an effort to drum up Republicans supporters to get out to the polls in three weeks. I think it speaks quite poorly about the right if their main message is, "Gee, I know we in the GOP have done a crappy job, what with a huge deficit and the Iraq debacle and some other stuff too, but can you imagine how much worse it would be if that Pelosi-monster were in charge of the House?"