USA Today cherry picks poll data in Sarah Palin article

More Opinion editorial masquerading as straight journalism.

In a feature article based on an interview with Sarah Palin, USA's Kathy Kiely cherry picked some old poll data to make the former governor appear to be less popular with the American public than she actually is:

"But even as her book sales soar, Palin remains a divisive figure in American politics. In an October Gallup Poll, 50% of those surveyed viewed the conservative Republican unfavorably, compared to 40% who had a favorable view."
That Gallup poll was conducted October 1-4, more than three two months ago. Since then, an Opinion Research poll conducted November 17-18 for FOX News found Sarah Palin's favorable rating to be 47 percent (and just 42 percent unfavorable), and another survey conducted by the same firm for CNN December 2-3 revealed her favorable rating to be 46 percent (with 46 percent unfavorable), just one point shy of Obama's.

This is par for the course for a left-leaning Gannett publication like USA Today, which ignored two more recent polls that show Sarah Palin's favorable ratings to be on the rise to reference a poll with findings that are no longer relevant. The attempt to hide the fact that Sarah Palin and President Obama are in a statistical tie in the way in which they are currently perceived by the public, and that she is no more "divisive" than he.