Who Are the Fox News Viewers?

Newsmax has the results of some polling that show that Fox News is not just speaking to the Republican faithful:

Is Fox News “an arm of the Republican Party” as White House Communications Director Anita Dunn says?

Democratic and independent voters beg to differ. A national survey conducted for the League of American Voters by the Global Marketing Research Center during last week shows that 46 percent of those who watch Fox News “just about every day” are Democrats or independents as are 50 percent of those who watch it “several times each week” or more.

Overall, the survey showed that 21 percent of all American voters watched Fox News every day and 18 percent watched it several times each week. So, combined, 39 percent watched the station several times each week or more.

• Among Democrats, 17 percent watched it several times each week or more

• Among Independents, 46 percent watched the station several times each week or more

• And among Republicans, 55 percent watched it several times each week or more

The survey indicated that 11 percent of all American voters watched CNN “just about every day” and 20 percent watched several times each week or more.

Combined, 31 percent watched CNN several times each week or more.

For MSNBC, the totals were 10 percent watched just about every day and 8 percent watched several times each week. Combined, 18 percent watched MSNBC several times each week or more.

These data, seen against the backdrop of the recent storm of White House criticism, casts the administration attacks on Fox News in a different perspective. Could it be that the Obama Administration is concerned about Fox News not because it is “an arm of the Republican Party” but because it is so widely seen among Democrats and Independents?

No wonder Obama is so perturbed at Fox - it's having an impact with the precious independent voters everyone seems to crave when elections come around. And, some of Obama's fellow traveler Democrats are also being influenced by Fox News stories.

Brit Hume, senior political editor at Fox, was asked about the war on Fox. Don Surber has some of the transcript:

Hume: “It is a little hard to discern a strategy behind the White House campaign of criticism of Fox News unless it’s simply this — an attempt to quarantine Fox and thereby discourage other media outlets from following up stories did originate here. The White House is clearly stung by the revelations about former aid Van Jones. He turned out to have harbored views that were out there where the buses don’t run and he was forced to resign. And the White House could not much have cared for the hidden camera expose of ACORN — an organization with which the president had a past association and one whose voter registration drives have benefited the Democratic Party.”

It got even better as Hume said: “So the president’s aides appear on other news channels to say that Fox, unlike those outlets, is really not a news organization but an arm of the Republican Party. One wonders how our colleagues at CNN and elsewhere like being patted on the head and given the seal of approval by the White House. These outlets already stand accused of being in the tank for Mr. Obama. Do they really want to open themselves up to more such criticism by ignoring legitimate stories because they originate here?”

And for good measure: “Here at Fox meanwhile the attacks have been something of a boon, especially to the highly opinionated and wildly popular Glenn Beck who has installed direct phone line on his set and invited the White House to call if anyone there has a beef. So far, no calls.”

The only thing the war on Fox has accomplished is a surge in ratings for the network. They're far outpacing the other cable networks, often combined, and are quickly becoming THE source for political news and reporting.

CNN may do breaking disaster coverage better, but fewer people than ever trust their political reporting. And MSNBC is simply a joke.