SEE IF YOU CAN follow this logic: There’s a scandal involving some egregious wrongdoing in the business community. President Bush is favorably disposed toward the business community. Therefore, President Bush is part of the scandal and in big trouble. Or check out this logic implicating congressional Republicans: There’s a scandal involving some egregious wrongdoing in the business community. After winning Congress in 1994, Republicans talked up deregulation and other steps to aid the business community. Therefore, Republicans created the conditions that caused the wrongdoing.
Now, it’s obvious that both of these are faulty syllogisms. And there’s no evidence the public is buying either one, even a little bit. The terrorist threat, the economy, moral values–the list is long of issues of greater national interest and concern. The president’s approval rating hasn’t dipped a whit. And just last weekend, a Gallup poll found Americans evenly divided on whether we’d be better off with Congress controlled by Democrats or Republicans. This is exactly what the same poll found last January and last November.
