Take the pledge!

Here is a simple pledge that will save you a lot of wasted time and brain cells over the next six months. Pledge not to read about or pay any attention to any poll related to the 2012 presidential contest until January 1, 2012. The media and political class of this country are poll-mad. Thus at Lucianne.com last night there were at least two articles about a poll on the 2012 Iowa Republican caucuses, showing that two particular candidates are in the lead. Folks, the Iowa caucuses take place on February 6, 2012, more than seven months away, yet the media expect us to think that such polls matter and that we should be attending to them now, seven months before the Republicans of Iowa actually get together and vote.

This is mad. It’s insane. Not only is it an addiction, it’s an addiction that delivers NOTHING of value. Break the addiction. I am not saying never read polls. I am saying ignore polls until they are relevant and timely.

And most of all ignore polls about President Obama’s approval rating, a subject on which the Republican media are constantly trying to jerk us into a triumphalist frenzy, notwithstanding the fact that Obama’s always “plummeting” approval rating never gets below 43-45 percent, about where President Reagan’s approval rating was for a long time during his first term.

Posted by Lawrence Auster at June 26, 2011 04:35 PM | Send