Faulty WashPost poll cooks the books

Flawed Wash. Post/ABC News poll suggested no link between NSA data collection and warrantless spying -- despite Post's own contrary report

from MediaMatters for America

Summary: A Washington Post/ABC News poll on the National Security Agency program to collect phone call records of tens of millions of United States residents found that 63 percent of respondents found the program acceptable. The poll question claimed that the NSA is not "listening to or recording the conversations" captured by the data collection program, but a Post article reported that the program is related to NSA's warrantless domestic eavesdropping program.

A Washington Post/ABC News poll on the National Security Agency (NSA) program to collect phone call records of tens of millions of United States residents -- conducted on May 11, the same day the program was first publicly disclosed -- asked respondents: "It's been reported that the National Security Agency has been collecting the phone call records of tens of millions of Americans. It then analyzes calling patterns in an effort to identify possible terrorism suspects, without listening to or recording the conversations. Would you consider this an acceptable or unacceptable way for the federal government to investigate terrorism? Do you feel that way strongly or somewhat?" According to the poll, 63 percent of respondents found the program acceptable.

However, the poll question affirmatively claimed that the NSA is not "listening to or recording the conversations" captured by the data collection program. This statement suggests -- falsely, according to the Post itself -- that the data collection program is separate from the NSA's warrantless domestic eavesdropping program, first publicly revealed by The New York Times in December 2005. In fact, according to a May 12 Post article, the two programs are directly linked: "Government access to call records is related to the previously disclosed eavesdropping program, sources said, because it helps the NSA choose its targets for listening. The mathematical techniques known as 'link analysis' and 'pattern analysis,' they said, give grounds for suspicion that can result in further investigation." In other words, according to The Washington Post itself -- and contrary to the poll question -- the NSA might well be "listening to or recording the conversations" of at least some Americans as a direct result of its analysis of the phone record data the NSA is collecting.

(The rest is here, including contact info for the Post.)

Firedoglake addresses the WaPo poll, as well:

The headline blazing across the Washington Post this morning reads: "Poll: Most Americans Support NSA’s Efforts."

It was written by Richard Morin, and we’ve been down this road before. Just days after the Clinton/Lewinsky scandal broke, before people had become wise to what was going on (and long before Clinton’s popularity soared during the congressional hearings), Morin was polling on impeachment with carefully worded questions. He got the results he was looking for, and long after public opinion had turned they existed as a bulwark against any change in conventional wisdom on Capitol Hill.

This, however, was Morin’s response not long ago in a Washington Post online chat:

Naperville, Ill.: Why haven’t you polled on public support for the impeachment of George W. Bush?

Richard Morin: This question makes me mad…

Seattle, Wash.: How come ABC News/Post poll has not yet polled on impeachment?

Richard Morin: Getting madder…

Haymarket, Va.: With all the recent scandals and illegal/unconstitutional actions of the President, why hasn’t ABC News / Washington Post polled whether the President should be impeached?

Richard Morin: Madder still…

(snip)

[W]e do not ask about impeachment because it is not a serious option or a topic of considered discussion — witness the fact that no member of congressional Democratic leadership or any of the serious Democratic presidential candidates in ‘08 are calling for Bush’s impeachment. When it is or they are, we will ask about it in our polls.

So before the phone records story even breaks, Morin — who knows absolutely what he is doing — starts polling people who have no idea what he’s talking about and giving it his best shot, tying it to the War on Terra. It works. Today it’s plastered across the front page of the washingtonpost.com like Carol Doda’s bright red lightbulb tits flashing at the Condor Club.

As eRiposte has noted, in a CBS/NYT poll earlier this year this was one of the questions posed:

In order to reduce the threat of terrorism, would you be willing or not willing to allow government agencies to monitor the telephone calls and e-mails of ordinary Americans on a regular basis?

At that time 70% responded "no." A rather strong indication that a lot has to do with how these particular questions are worded.

(There's more.)

Here's my e-mail to the WaPost Ombudman and ABC News:

I read the questions, I listened to Richard Morin, and I think I understand how polling works.

Here's my draft of a question for Morin's next poll on the subject:

"George Bush is protecting America from terrorists by tapping our phones and collecting logs of all our calls, while simultaneously fiercely protecting our civil liberties. Do you support the President or the terrorists?"

I think that would give the results Morin is obviously looking for.

Tom Maertens
Mankato, MN