The Conservative Entertainment Complex has sunk its teeth into the Lunatic Base and it is delicious.
While voters overall may think Congress’ focus should be elsewhere there’s no doubt about how mad Republicans are about Benghazi. 41% say they consider this to be the biggest political scandal in American history to only 43% who disagree with that sentiment. Only 10% of Democrats and 20% of independents share that feeling. Republicans think by a 74/19 margin than Benghazi is a worse political scandal than Watergate, by a 74/12 margin that it’s worse than Teapot Dome, and by a 70/20 margin that it’s worse than Iran Contra.
The biggest political scandal of all time!
Why would they think this? Because Fox News and congressional Republicans told them it was worse than Watergate and Iran-Contra. And if you ask Steve King, it’s actually worse than “Watergate and Iran-Contra combined times ten.” Times ten!
But there’s more.
One interesting thing about the voters who think Benghazi is the biggest political scandal in American history is that 39% of them don’t actually know where it is. 10% think it’s in Egypt, 9% in Iran, 6% in Cuba, 5% in Syria, 4% in Iraq, and 1% each in North Korea and Liberia with 4% not willing to venture a guess.
By an across-the-board margin of approximately 70/20, Republicans believe Benghazi is the biggest scandal ever, and most of them couldn’t tell you what country Benghazi is in.
Meanwhile, Benghazi-mania is having almost no impact on the approval rating of congress or the approval rating of its intended targets. This tells me those who believe it’s the biggest scandal ever are only paying attention for their own entertainment. It also tells me Watergate and Iran Contra have been successfully minimized and bastardized by the Right.
I’m old enough to remember when Solyndra and Fast and Furious were the new hotness.