Will Rogers was right

American humorist Will Rogers once declared “all I know is just what I read in the papers, and that's an alibi for my ignorance.” Just imagine if he were alive today.

“WARNING LIGHTS FLASH FOR BIDEN, TIMES POLL FINDS,” trumpets the lead story on America’s newspaper of record in an all caps, bold headline, with the online version declaring “Voters Doubt Biden’s Leadership and Favor Trump, Times/Siena Poll Finds.”

“More than twice as many voters believe Mr. Biden’s policies have personally hurt them as believe his policies have helped them. A majority of voters think the economy is in poor condition.”

"Two hundred some miles north we find a very different take on the front page of the Boston Globe:

Haley’s not winning, but her campaign for president shows where Trump is weak

“Haley’s extant challenge is laying bare nagging reservations about the former president among independents and moderate Republicans in some of the very same places that cost Trump reelection in 2020.”

Who needs an alibi for ignorance?

To be fair, the Times offers up immediately next to that headline:

Trump Says Little on Gaza, and Nothing About What He’d Do Differently

Nowhere to be found in the printed paper of record (OK, maybe it was past the print deadline) was this gem:

Trump Makes Baseless Claims About Immigration and Voter Fraud

“Fresh off his trip to the southern border earlier this week, former President Donald J. Trump on Saturday baselessly suggested that President Biden had “smuggled” violent anti-American forces across the border.”

At least they called it baseless. CNN used a sound bite of Trump accusing Biden of fomenting a “conspiracy to overthrow the United States of America.” I never heard a word of pushback in the one airing of the story before I ran from the room, muttering under my breath.

You know, conspiracy, something Trump is under indictment in Washington DC and Georgia for allegedly doing.

Let’s stipulate, as the lawyers say, that Biden, his administration and his campaign could be doing a lot better job of getting the word out about how he has repaired the damage from a pandemic that Trump blithely said would go from 15 cases, down to none.” Probably because people could consume bleach or an anti-parasitic drug used on horses to cure themselves.

And let’s face it, we’ve had more coverage of Biden’s age than the impact of the Inflation Reduction Act, the Chips and Science Act and the American Rescue Plan Act.

But the media’s obsession with horse race polls showing who’s ahead and who’s behind EIGHT MONTHS before voters cast actual real votes is a problem that editors of legacy media operations just can’t seem to shake.

One clear trend that these editors can’t seem to see either is eight years of constant political turmoil has had a significant impact:

“In a fractious political environment often dominated by the loudest voices on the left and right, some people are saying: Count us out.

Last year, we talked to a group of people who, while they may vote, are not strongly attached to either political party. They don’t closely follow news about politics or government, though some feel guilty when they don’t. By and large, they look at the nation’s politics as a topic better avoided than embraced.”

Perhaps the only ones paying attention to the fact are the Biden administrative and campaign teams. After all, there’s one definite criminal trial upcoming for Trump, where he’s accused of paying off a porn star to influence the 2016 election. There could be as many as three more depending on how successful Trump’s lawyers are at delay.

Then there are these issues: a thoroughly dysfunctional Republican House that seems more interested in impeachment than legislating; the steady march of conservatives to eliminate women’s reproductive freedom; and the threat to democracy itself.

The ultimate caveat is horse race polls are a snapshot in time. That one thing both sides have plenty of — to either make a better case or prove their unworthiness. We’re barely into the first turn.

Most of all, remember the basic adage of computing: Garbage in. Garbage Out.