One article reported on facts, not the White House spin. One article reported on the White House spin, not the facts.
From Licthblau and Risen (on page A8 of the print edition):
While the White House usually says it pays no attention to public opinion polls, Scott McClellan, the press secretary, said at a briefing Friday that recent surveys "overwhelmingly show that the American people want us to do everything within our power to protect them."From the Times stellar political reporter Adam "Ad Nags" Nagourney (on page A10 of the print edition):
But several opinion polls this month showed a clear divide over the issue. One poll, conducted two weeks ago by CNN/USA Today, found that 50 percent of those surveyed thought it was right for the president to order wiretaps without warrants and that 46 percent said it was wrong.
The White House's increasingly forceful defense of the eavesdropping program signals its belief that the disclosures are not politically damaging, notwithstanding criticism. Some polls so far suggest that Americans are supportive of the eavesdropping campaign.Did someone in the White House just tell Nagourney the polls were good for them? He does have that reputation, after all, of taking what they feed him. Because, if Ad Nags did some very basic research like his colleagues did, he'd learn otherwise. But that might make Karl Rove mad at him.
