A June 24 CNSNews.com article by Christopher Neefus uncritically quotes Republican pollster Kellyanne Conway (whom Neefus fails to identify as a Republican pollster, something CNS has failed to do in the past) criticizing a New York Times/CBS News poll finding a little too much support for a public health insurance option than right-wing organizations would like to see, claiming that the poll’s breakdown of 48 percent of respondents who said had voted for Barack Obama, versus 25 percent for McCain, means that, in Neefus’ words, “Had those results been reflected in the November presidential election, Obama would have garnered 66 percent of the vote to McCain’s 34 percent.” Conway is quoted as adding, “Was the vote 66-34? You tell me.”
In fact, as we’ve already pointed out when CNS sister organization NewsBusters made the same bogus claim, this ignores the 27 percent of respondents who said they didn’t vote, said they voted for someone else, or refused to say for whom they voted — which means that the breakdown cannot be 66-34.