RUSH: Now, look at this story in the Washington Post today. Headline: “Post/ABC Poll, Bush Ignoring Public Concerns, Majority Says President Distracted by Issues They Care Little About.” So once again, what has a poll become, folks? A network news poll is nothing more than an editorial that they can put on the front page and call it “news.” You go out with your polling unit, you phrase the questions to get the answers that you want, and then you run the story as though, “Bammo! Look what we found! Look what people are thinking out there?” When people didn’t call the Post. Nobody originated this train of thought. Somebody at the Post or their polling unit got the idea, “I wonder if we asked people if they think the president’s listening to them, what they would say.” They know what the answer would be. How many of you think the president ever listens to you? You know, you can write this question
“Relatively few Americans viewed that issue as particularly important. According to the poll, nearly eight in 10 Democrats say Bush is not concentrating on issues they personally view as vital while three out of four Republicans disagree.” Okay, so basically what the poll says is, “We went out and we talked to a bunch of Democrats. Democrats don’t think the president is doing what they want him to do, ergo Bush isn’t listening.” Seventy-five percent of Republicans disagreed with the Democrats on this, so we get a poll focusing on what the Bush, particularly Democrats that read the Washington Post and the New York Times. They hate him. It’s a damn good thing that Bush isn’t listening to them. But let me raise a larger issue. Do we want government by polls? Or do we want presidents to do what they think is right? Do we want presidents to have an agenda and lead? I have yet to hear of a great poll reader also be called a leader. As to this business about this judges and a bunch of people don’t think it’s important? Too bad, it is. If a president went out and took a poll and said, “You know what? I want to reform Social Security.” I don’t think it’s important. What if he thinks it is? What’s he supposed to do? A leader leads. He attempts to persuade people why it’s important. We know that public education in this country is woefully bad. We know that a lot of people do not understand the Constitution. We know that a lot of people look at the Supreme Court as the unit that decides
The Supreme Court and the federal bench has become primarily an instrument of the left, where liberalism has become institutionalized, where it’s insulated from the arena of public ideas and debate. The more liberal judges you have
END TRANSCRIPT