Not only do 74% of polled GOP voters who named a preferred candidate in the (at this link) latest Fox poll express a preference for another candidate than Rick Perry who scored a tiny 26%, but Perry was the candidate viewed as the second most extreme of all candidates when this was asked of all voters polled.
Previous high flyer Michele Bachmann, was rejected by a whopping 96% of polled GOP voters who expressed a preference for a candidate, and she was viewed as, by far, the most extreme of candidates by all polled voters.
Previous poll leader Mitt Romney is now rejected by 82% of GOP voters who expressed a preference for someone else or did not express any choice at this time.
The above, indisputable, poll analysis shows just how ridiculously the poll reports are presented, how distorted they are, how they can be manipulated, how agenda driven they are in their messaging, and how clearly the bias of the media outlet which commissions and presents them can be seen.
Fox has gone out of their way to headline this poll "most say Palin should stay out of the race." They do not give the reasons they only asked the question about Palin, when they could have included Giuliani/Christie/Bush/Bolton-all leading personalities who have been touted as possible candidates.
Neither did they ask if voters thought that any of the current candidates e.g. Cain/Santorum/Huntsman/Gingrich and even Bachmann, whom they have polling lower than in any other recent poll, should now drop out of the race.
Lost in the bias is the fact that Palin's result in the Fox poll has stayed steady since their June poll, despite all the hoopla for previous flavor of the month Bachmann, and now Perry, and that she still is not a declared candidate with all the media antogonism still being thrown at her.
If Palin declares, and after Perry has been seen in a few debates, and has been subject to a tiny bit of the scrutiny that Palin has been relentlessly under, then a true picture of her strength vis a vis the other candidates, across a number of polls, will be able to be judged.
In the meantime the Fox poll is just one in a number of deliberate distortions like Rasmussen's, which doesn't even include Palin in their polling.
A commentator at Weasel Zippers put it clearly and succinctly
Anybody beside me find it curious that Fox didn’t poll these questions:
Should Mitt Romney drop out of the race?
Should Bachmann drop out of the race?
Should Guiliani get in the race?
Should Bolton get in the race?
Do you not find it more than coincidence that if you add up all the support for the other candidates, you get, surprise, surprise……………….72%
It was a stupid poll question intended to blunt Sarah’s big speech on Saturday and keep from declaring her candidacy. Didn’t work!