Two Tales of One Event

The International Republican Institute (a nonpartisan, nonprofit organization dedicated to advancing democracy worldwide and of which I am a proud member) performed face-to-face interviews with 1,903 Iraqis in 16 of the 18 regions of Iraq and published the results earlier this month.

Last Wednesday, USA Today covered the story with a decidedly negative spin. Headlined Lengthy ballots, ad blitzes contribute to confusion, the story concentrated on the confusion among the newly-liberated citizenry and states:

Iraqis have no experience with free elections. The last ballot, in 2002, had one choice: Saddam Hussein. On Jan. 30, they'll confront a lengthy and potentially mystifying ballot. Violence and security concerns have added to the confusion. Most voters seem to have a muddled view of how to vote.

Yes, "potentially mystifying" is the news here, with violence somehow equating to voter confusion. USA Today seems to be trying to make the Iraqi citizen seem like a caricature of a thick-skulled red-stater.

Compare and contrast the reporting by the Washington Times last Thursday, in a story headlined 80 percent say they plan to vote:

A clear majority of Iraqis said they plan to vote in the Jan. 30 elections and remain hopeful about their country's future despite a murderous insurgency, according to a poll to be released today.

The countrywide survey, conducted by the Washington-based International Republican Institute (IRI), also found increased popular awareness of the election, closer identification with political parties and a growing level of trust in Iraqi institutions such as the interim government, the police and the election commission.

While the USA Today ignored most of the pesky facts in the poll results, the Washington Times published quite a number. I, of course, went to the source (requires Microsoft Powerpoint to view) and pulled some results of my own:

• Almost half the nation believes the country is headed in the right direction, with only 40% saying it is headed in the wrong direction. Compare that number with a Zogby poll released today to which 46% of the respondents said that they believe that America is headed in the wrong direction. And we don't even have car bombs to worry about!
• The top two reasons cited for a "right direction" answer are "Emerging democracy" and "Removal of the last regime", which sounds like a pretty good validation for the liberation of Iraq.
• The top reason for a "wrong direction" answer is "Poor security situation" at 56.7%, over 40 points ahead of any other answer. This indicates that the people hate the "insurgency" and is further validation for the continued emphasis of training the Iraqi Police force.
• The people are hopeful about the future with the vast majority of citizens believe that things will be better as time goes on, with less than 10% thinking it will be worse in a year and only 5.5% thinking it will be worse in five years.
• In spite of the dangerous security situation, more than half the people think that the Interim Government has been effective to date, with economic and security issues leading the reasons cited for thinking so.
• Faith in God, family and patriotism are the leading values that Iraqis say are important to them. This sounds like red state America to me, which may be why USA Today mistakes Iraqis for rednecks.
• 45% know of a political party or figure that shares their own values or ideas. Pretty good for the confused electorate that the USA Today writes about, and (as the Washington Times notes) it is a three-fold increase since May.
• Government programs to confirm voter information has been stunningly effective in the unstable country, with 78% remembering having received voter registration materials and over 70% of those saying the information in the packets were correct.
• 82% of those interviewed said that they were likely to vote next Sunday. 82%!
• 70% are confident that their vote will be kept secret.
• 62% either believe that religious leaders should endorse candidates but not serve themselves, or that they should maintain aloof from the political world and concentrate on spiritual and social life. This is, no doubt, a drag on the morale of Islamofascists everywhere.

Bottom line: the people want the vote, are ready for the vote, and will make use of the vote. Moreover, it will serve as a highly effective step in breaking the back of the terrorist "insurgency".

Also, while USA Today cited one statistic and filled a column with dour predictions and gloomy prognostications, the Washington Times cited actual results of the survey. Nor can I find any other story in the USA Today that covers this poll.

USA Today should be ashamed but I doubt that shame is to be found anywhere in those offices.

Blog post #4385 in category Media Spin
posted 24 January 05

 

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