Catholic League says ad questioning polls discredits Christians

Sep 28, 2004 / 22:00 pm

Catholic League president William Donohue spoke out against a full-page ad in the New York Times, which he says attacks the integrity and professionalism of all Christians.

MoveOn.org, an organization funded by billionaire Democrat George Soros, took out a full-page ad attacking the methodology of Gallup, the renowned polling group.

The ad states that a recent Gallup poll, which shows President George Bush with a 14-point lead over Senator John Kerry, is exaggerated because it is predicated on more Republicans turning out to vote on Election Day than Democrats.

In the ad, MoveOn.org argues that this “inflated lead” over Kerry, is affecting news coverage in a way that favors Bush.

But this is not the sticking point, says Donohue. “MoveOn.org blames the alleged bias of George Gallup Jr. on his Christian faith,” he said.

He noted that at the ad ends with quotes from a commencement speech Gallup gave at a theological seminary. It reads: “Gallup, who is a devout evangelical Christian, has been quoted as calling his polling ‘a kind of ministry.’ And a few months ago, he said, ‘the most profound purpose of polls is to see how people are responding to God.’” 

Donohue argues that the real message MoveOn.org is trying to send with this ad is that Gallup polls are not credible and that they demonstrate that “Christian bias is at work.”

The ad, through which “Soros has impugned the integrity of all Christians,” infers that “only secularists, apparently, are capable of rendering an objective survey,” says Donohue.

“For the record, in the final poll before the 2000 election, the predictions of Gallup and Zogby proved to be the most accurate,” Donohue offered. He also pointed out that George Gallup Jr. retired May 31 and has not conducted a poll since.