The theory behind political spin-doctoring is to take something that is black and white and make it gray.
But Utah Republican Party officials are trying to take Rep. Enid Greene Waldholtz's public-perception problems and change them from black and white to rose-colored.And they're failing miserably.
Last week, after a Deseret News/KSL poll came out showing that most 2nd Congressional District residents think Enid is not telling the truth about her tangled web of personal and campaign finances and should not seek re-election in 1996, the state party issued a statement that said if you added together the people who think Enid should resign with the people who were undecided, the total is close to the number of people who DIDN'T vote for her in 1994.
They then said if you add the 28 percent of people who said she should run again in 1996 with the 16 percent "undecided" on that question, you get 44 percent - close to the 46 percent who voted for her.
Thus, the party leaders figure, Enid really isn't so bad off in public opinion - because it's natural for people who didn't vote for her to say she should resign or to have no opinion about her resigning.
After a Salt Lake Tribune poll came out two days later, the state party issued another press release saying that "polls" released over the weekend show a majority of Utah voters don't think Enid should resign.
That statement simply isn't accurate. The Tribune poll did have a majority of 2nd District residents - not the whole state - believing Enid shouldn't resign.
But the Deseret News/KSL poll conducted by Dan Jones & Associates shows that 40 percent of 2nd District residents think she should resign, and 44 percent - not a majority at all - think she shouldn't. You can't add the "un-de-cideds" on the resignation question to those who think she shouldn't, just like you can't add the "undecideds" to those who think she should.
GOP officials were just wrong to say "polls" showed a majority thought Enid shouldn't resign.
And it's downright dumb to compare the 54 percent of people who didn't vote for Enid in 1994 with the 57 percent of constituents who said she should resign or didn't know if she should.
Why? Because the premises and events are completely different. Resignation is much more serious question than voting or not voting for someone.
To prove the point, I'm tempted to put a throwaway question on the next Deseret News/KSL poll asking Utahns if Gov. Mike Leavitt should resign. I'm pretty confident what the result would be - very few Utahns would want Leavitt to resign.
Remember, Leavitt got only 42 percent of the vote in 1992 in a tight three-way race. Enid got 46 percent of the vote in 1994 in a three-way race.
Thus, 58 percent of Utahns didn't want Leavitt to be governor, while 54 percent of 2nd District voters didn't want Enid go to the U.S. House.
Leavitt is one of the most popular politicians in recent Utah history - his job performance rating runs from the high 70s to mid-80 percentiles.
Do GOP leaders really believe that a poll asking if Leavitt should resign would show that 55-60 percent of Utahs would say yes or answer they didn't know?
Absurd. But that's the argument Republicans are using to say Enid isn't so bad off in the polls.
Given the scenario the state Republican Party is trying to sell on Enid, pollster Dan Jones says, "My guess is less than 5 percent of Utahns would say Leavitt should resign."
And 40 percent of 2nd District residents said Enid should, the Jones survey showed.
So, next time you hear state Republican Party officials saying things aren't so bad for Enid, take such comments with a grain of salt - or assume they're looking through rose-colored glasses.