Here's an example of the kind of thing our public discourse could do without…
A majority would vote for a Democrat over President Bush if an election were held this year, according to a CNN/USA Today/Gallup Poll released Tuesday. In the latest poll, 55 percent of the respondents said that they would vote for the Democratic candidate if Bush were again running for the presidency this year. Thirty-nine percent of those interviewed said they would vote for Bush in the hypothetical election.
Great! All the Democrats have to do is figure out how to get a presidential election held this year. They also have to make sure they run an unnamed candidate because the minute they select someone, that person is no longer "the Democratic candidate." Instead, that person becomes Hillary or Al Gore or Howard Dean or someone else with a history and a paper trail and traits that the opposition can attack.
Really, I'm no fan of George W. Bush. I think he's been a terrible president. But a poll such as this one is full of "if"s as to be way below worthless. Perhaps the pollsters could try telling us something that relates in some way to reality. They could at least indict someone.