FOX hides their own poll results

News Hounds
May. 18, 2007

Viewers of last night's Republican presidential "debate" on FOX were invited to text in votes for their favorite candidates in an unscientific poll. But let them just try and find those results: good luck!

Clicking on FOX News Polls brings one to a page (dated May 2, 2007, but in tiny gray notation at the top of the page, not obvious in the text of the article) that trumpets "Rudy Giuliani gets highest rating."

Clicking through that headline brings up this article, "FOX News Poll: Giuliani Gets Highest Favorability Rating for 2008 Candidates" and the date is more obvious. So, viewer goes back to the home page to look again.

Maybe it's in Politics. First in Politics we see that "GOP Fed Up With Fishing Expeditions. Republicans complain about investigations and hearings to nowhere conducted by majority Democrats thriving in oversight authority..." Those pesky Democrats are ruining the Republican's Party by investigating what they've been doing behind closed doors the last six years. Damn them!

Okay, we can click on "Polls" on the left side there. Nope, that takes us back to Rudy, above. Let's try "You Decide 2008" - that must be it.

Well, You Decide 2008 list headlines/links, only two of which are current.

Can the poll results (remember the poll results we're looking for?) be under "GOP Candidates Go for the Jugular in Feisty Primary Debate"? No, that article leads off with

"WASHINGTON — Former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani won the strongest applause at Tuesday night's first-in-the-South Republican primary debate when he lashed out at Texas Rep. Ron Paul for suggesting that the United States' non-interventionist policy invited the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks."

It wouldn't be "Fred Thompson, Michael Moore Go Head to Head, Sort of," so back to Politics.

None of those headlines look appropriate:
* House Dems Look to Cut Funding for Abstinence Education
* Giuliani, Edwards Report Money Figures
* U.S.-Run Arab-Language Channel Airs Anti-Israel Comments
* GOP Hopefuls Bask in Own Glory Following Debate
* Senate Rejects Bill to Cut Iraq Funding After March '08
* Some Seniors to Get Follow-Up Call From Medicare Insurers
* House Investigation of BP Oil Spills Finds Cost-Cutting at Fault
* Several Sticking Points Arise out of Immigration Negotiations
* Oversight Agency to Review Bonuses Given to Veterans Affairs Officials
* Report: World Bank, Wolfowitz Negotiating Agreement For Him to Resign
* South Dakota Political Landscape Unsteady as Sen. Johnson Recovers
* Second Dollar Coin Features Former President John Adams
* South Carolina Considers Allowing Weapons on Campus
* Candidates' Financial Disclosures Reveal Wealth
* Huckabee Unsure If He Would Join Abortion-Rights Candidate
* Hagel Joins Group Calling for Gonzales' Resignation
* Romney Mourns Death of Former Aide Killed Serving in Iraq
* Democrats Reach Agreement on $2.9 Trillion Budget Plan
* Bush's Selection of War Czar Is Attempt at Cutting Red Tape
* McCain Tops Presidential Hopefuls With Most Pets

The only one that looks vaquely promising, GOP Candidates, Supporters Bask in Own Glory Following Feisty Debate , is a subjective article by FOX News' Sharon Kehnemui Liss.

Where are the call-in poll results? Why are they so hard to find after FOX plugged the gimmick all afternoon pre-debate? Search the site, using "Republican debate you decide poll results," that MUST do it.

Nope.

You can't get there from here. In fact, we got the link in an email from someone who emailed a FOX employee. The results are contained in an article titled "You Decide: Viewers Say Who Won Tuesday Night's GOP Presidential Debate." After all the heat he was given for his straightforward and unpopular remarks about the political reasons the US was attacked on 9/11, Republican Ron Paul came in a close second (25%), behind Bush family pal Mitt Romney (29%), who might not be thrilled to have Giuliani prominent as he is on FOXNews.com. Rudy Giuliani fell to third place (19%), and John McCain was a distant 6th (4%).

This type of poll is unscientific and the results are pretty meaningless, but it's interesting that FOX buried them so thoroughly, presumably because it showed that viewers who would bother to participate are not in agreement with the wider script.

Is it misleading, or just sloppy? We report, you decide.