Not So Fast...

It appears to be a trend these days for partisans on both sides to cling to dubious bits of evidence as if it's the Holy Grail, in order to prove their claims, contrary evidence notwithstanding.

The Right has pounced on a new Pew poll, in order to try and argue that Obama is the most polarizing President ever. Not so fast. While the poll itself is solid, unlike say, this one, the poll doesn't say what they think it says:

Former Bush speechwriter Peter Wehner pointed to the numbers to slam Obama as the “most polarizing” President in decades and to blast Obama’s promise of bipartisanship as “fictional.” Drudge branded Obama “President Polarize,” and many others on the right echoed the charge.

Pew associate director Dimock, however, says this is a misreading of the poll. Dimock says the divide is driven by long term trends and by the uncommonly enthusiastic reaction to Obama by members of his own party — by what he calls “the way Democrats are reacting to Obama.”

Interestingly, Dimock also said this phenomenon is partly caused by the recent tendency of Republicans to be less charitable towards new Presidents than Dems have been.

Mileage is your own, but as I see it, the poll in no way suggests how polarizing Obama has been, but rather how polarized people are, particularly the two parties, about Obama. Democrats are particularly enthusiastic about him, while the GOP is particularly hostile. Now, one may think that is entirely proper, or not, depending on your view of his policies, but let's not distort the facts, shall we?

I also find the point about the GOP being more hostile to new Presidents than Dems are, interesting. Again, mileage is your own.