Thursday, December 22, 2005
I Guess Reuters Reporters Don't Do Math: Hat tip James Taranto
In a recent article on presidential popularity, Reuters (the "news" service that refuses to identify Osama bin Laden as a terrorist) cites President Bush as "the least popular and most bellicose of the last ten U.S. presidents, according to a new survey". The article goes on to note "Only nine percent of the 662 people polled picked Bush as their favorite among the last 10 presidents. John F. Kennedy topped that part of the survey, with 26 percent, closely followed by Bill Clinton (25 percent) and Ronald Reagan (23 percent)." Now, you don't have to be a rocket scientist to do the math here:
John Kennedy 26%
Bill Clinton 25%
Ronald Reagan 23%
**********************
74%
Now, that leaves 26% for the seven remaining. With Bush at 9%, we see only 17% for the remaining six. Now, suppose one of the presidents in the six (Ike, maybe) does beat out President Bush. He must have 9.01% support for the best president. But, that leaves only 7.99% for the remaining five. But, since Bush has 9%, he can at worst rank fifth of ten.
Back of the class for Reuters
In a recent article on presidential popularity, Reuters (the "news" service that refuses to identify Osama bin Laden as a terrorist) cites President Bush as "the least popular and most bellicose of the last ten U.S. presidents, according to a new survey". The article goes on to note "Only nine percent of the 662 people polled picked Bush as their favorite among the last 10 presidents. John F. Kennedy topped that part of the survey, with 26 percent, closely followed by Bill Clinton (25 percent) and Ronald Reagan (23 percent)." Now, you don't have to be a rocket scientist to do the math here:
John Kennedy 26%
Bill Clinton 25%
Ronald Reagan 23%
**********************
74%
Now, that leaves 26% for the seven remaining. With Bush at 9%, we see only 17% for the remaining six. Now, suppose one of the presidents in the six (Ike, maybe) does beat out President Bush. He must have 9.01% support for the best president. But, that leaves only 7.99% for the remaining five. But, since Bush has 9%, he can at worst rank fifth of ten.
Back of the class for Reuters
