There’s a new poll from Gallup getting a lot of attention today. The headline on the Gallup website is “Limbaugh, Gingrich, Cheney Seen as Speaking for GOP.” Gallup’s Frank Newport writes, “Asked to name the ‘main person who speaks for the Republican Party today,’ Republicans across the country are most likely to name three men: Rush Limbaugh, Newt Gingrich, and Dick Cheney. Democrats are most likely to say Limbaugh speaks for the GOP, followed by Cheney.”
This is the perfect case of a story being accurate and at the same time fundamentally misleading. Fortunately, Gallup provides the numbers that cast doubt on its own assertions.
According to the new survey 10 percent — yes, 10 percent — of Republicans name Limbaugh as “the main person who speaks for the Republican Party today.” Ten percent name Gingrich. And nine percent say Cheney. But Gallup also reports that 17 percent of Republicans say no one speaks for the GOP, and 29 percent have no answer. So 46 percent of Republicans surveyed have no answer to the question of who speaks for the GOP, while 10 percent say Rush Limbaugh. Even if you combine Limbaugh, Gingrich, and Cheney’s totals, you get 29 percent of Republicans who say one of them speaks for the party, as opposed to 46 percent who say no one. Yet the headline is “Limbaugh, Gingrich, Cheney Seen as Speaking for GOP.”
Gallup also asked Democrats who speaks for the Republican Party, and their answers are not dramatically different from Republicans. Eighteen percent of Democrats say Limbaugh speaks for the GOP. Twelve percent say Cheney, and four percent say Gingrich. So 34 percent of Democrats point to one of those figures, while 49 percent of Democrats either have no answer or say no one speaks for the GOP.
Newport concedes that “no one person dominates even among Republicans who are able to name someone who speaks for their party.” That’s clearly the story. So don’t believe the headlines about Limbaugh, Gingrich, and Cheney.
