Wednesday, 21 July 2010

How Is The Media's Anything But The Issues Campaign Working?

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We are about two months into general election for the Kentucky U.S. Senate. Over those two months the media has done everything in their power to bring up non-important issues to pain Paul as a nut. I have dubbed this the "Anything But the Issues Campaign" because they have ignored to big issues because they don't help media darling Conway.

It is time to check into how well the media's "Anything But The Issues Campaign" is working. The latest Rasmussen poll came out today and it shows that the polling hasn't moved. Rand Paul still leads Conway 49-41.

Anyone wonder why the media's campaign has been a horrible failure? Here is a bit of a hint.

In Kentucky, just nine percent (9%) rate the U.S. economy as good or excellent, while 50% rate it as poor. Twenty-seven percent (27%) say economic conditions are improving and 50% say they are getting worse.

Oh yeah and this too.

While 30% of Kentucky voters believe the $787 billion economic stimulus package passed last year helped the economy, 34% say it hurt. Most (58%) say the government spending in the stimulus did not create new jobs....By a 61% to 16% margin, Kentucky voters believe cutting taxes is a better way than increasing spending to create jobs.

And maybe some of this as well.

Support for repeal of the health care reform bill is slightly higher in Kentucky than it is nationally. While 61% favor repeal of the law, 31% are opposed.

No wonder the media hasn't been able to move the numbers. Rand Paul represents the majority view of Kentuckians. No matter how much the media tries to change the subject, Conway is just on the wrong side of all of these issues which Kentuckians care. I expect the media campaign to continue, but I don't imagine it will be any more effective than it already has been.

I also believe we may be seeing the high water mark for Conway. Once the campaigns start advertising (and the media's spin matters less), I think we are going to see more Kentuckians moving to Paul. Unless the mood of voters changes drastically in the next couple of months, I just don't see where Conway is going to get any more votes.