I'm going to need some help from folks on the political right. This is one that progressive minds really won't assist in bringing clarity to since it largely concerns how conservatives should understand, interpret, regard, and discern what is coming out of left-leaning media outlets.
It's one thing for us to say we don't trust the liberal media. It's one thing for us to say they are the purveyors and propagators of fake news. It's one thing for us to say that, with the exception of a few good seeds sprinkled throughout the massive manure pile, everything that emanates from broadcast and print media should be avoided like the plague.
But then what are we doing with election polls?
Frankly, attempting to survey the landscape of American conservatism as objectively as I can, I get the distinct impression that we look like a bunch of goofballs, cussing and spitting about how untrustworthy NBC is, all as we simultaneously post and point to the latest NBC/Marist poll that shows our preferred candidate surging or trouncing Joe Biden.
A few months ago, Republican candidate Nikki Haley was mocking Fox News' Shannon Bream for bringing up her low standing in the national polls. Commenting that it isn't germane "how many people show up at your rallies," Haley dismissed national polls as something "past presidential elections" prove "just don't matter."
Just last week though, the Haley campaign cited those polls and celebrated, "Nikki is just 3 points away from defeating Donald Trump in a head to head match-up (in New Hampshire)!"
She's not alone when it comes to fickle treatment of the polls. A few months ago, Governor Ron DeSantis and his supporters were all dismissing the numbers that showed him down 32 points to Donald Trump. "I'm not running to juice polling," DeSantis said at the time to Fox News, before blaming the "corporate media" for targeting him with untrustworthy polling.
Yet now, just days away from the Iowa caucuses, the DeSantis campaign is ecstatic as they point to their candidates "rising poll numbers" in the first-in-the-nation election state. Citing the polling surge, DeSantis told NBC's Meet the Press that he was "going to win Iowa" and then the nomination.
Standing in his way, of course, is the former president Donald J. Trump, a man who has never attempted to disguise his disgust for "fake news polls."
According to former President Trump and his supporters, it's crazy to trust the media's polls. But also, according to former President Trump and his supporters, we should all trust the media's polls that show him trouncing fellow Republicans and demand they exit the primary and coalesce to beat the Democrats.
In November, Moms for America Action endorsed Trump and posted an interview with him. At 11:45 in that interview, Trump is asked about where he draws his strength - what element of his faith gives him the fortitude to face everything coming at him.
He responded by noting the polls.
One of the reasons is that I have the highest polls numbers people have virtually ever seen. You're beating these people by 60 points and we're beating Biden by a lot. And that gives us hope…
This is what I mean about looking silly. Are polls trustworthy or are they not? Are some trustworthy, but others are inherently biased? If so, how do we know which is which and avoid simply gravitating towards the ones that make our preferred candidate look better?
And along those lines, if the media really is as corrupt as what we all say, is there some point at which we begin considering that corrupt media might be using their polls to manipulate us?
I suppose we'll all know soon enough. It just seems like that's maybe something the Right should address with itself as some point.
