"A survey done by Politico and George Washington University asked 1,000 likely voters about the current state of politics and the media. 45% strongly disapprove of the job President Obama is doing, while 35% strongly approve. But 47% strongly approve of the President as a person, while just 19% strongly disapprove. So the mood of the country is obviously running strongly against Mr. Obama's policies. Turning to the media, 81% of likely voters now get their information about politics from cable news, while 71% say they get it from network news. On the cable news front, 42% say Fox is their main source of information about politics; 30% say CNN; just 12% cite MSNBC, which is disastrous. When asked who has the greatest 'positive impact' on the political debate, your humble correspondent comes out far ahead - 49% of Americans cited me as having a positive impact on the political debate. I should note that 32% say I am a negative influence. So what does all this mean? Clearly the Fox News Channel has become the most important media outlet in this country, while our cable competition doesn't even show up. And President Obama has some enormous problems to overcome."

The Factor asked Fox News political analyst Brit Hume to name the single most surprising outcome of the poll. "The only real stunner," Hume joked, "is that 49% of the public believe you're having a positive impact on the political debate on America. They need to re-run those numbers." Hume provided a more serious scrutiny of the poll's political revelations. "When people were asked who they have more confidence in to solve certain problems, the Republicans in Congress do much better than the President. But they don't do as well compared to the Democrats in Congress, which is really kind of surprising and counter-intuitive." The Factor theorized that Barack Obama's real opponent in 2012 will be President Reagan: "The Republican nominee is going to run on the Reagan philosophical ticket - cut taxes, smaller government, proud of America. It's going to be the ghost of Ronald Reagan running against Barack Obama."

For two more views of the Politico-George Washington University poll, The Factor welcomed FNC analysts Mary Katharine Ham and Juan Williams. "It's amazing to me how the media landscape has changed," Williams said. "Fox News dominates and it's not even close - MSNBC is a joke and people are just flipping by CNN. And while people like Barack Obama, they don't like his policies." Ham remarked on the lack of popularity among liberal TV news hosts. "The people in this poll are likely voters who are more educated and more in tune with the news. They chose five leading news personalities, and four of them are center-right to outright conservative. The only left-leaning guy is Jon Stewart, who is now the de facto leading pundit on the left."

Last week, when Professor Marc Lamont Hill accused the tea party of being "racist," The Factor challenged him to provide evidence. Hill returned to the No Spin Zone and attempted to back up his assertion. "Point number one," Hill said, "is the pervasive presence of racist signs and buttons at tea party rallies. You consistently see signs of Obama looking like a monkey and signs using dirty language. The tea party does little to stop or discourage that. There is also a scientific study showing that tea party members are more likely to have negative racial attitudes." The Factor swatted away both of Hill's allegations: "I don't think the signs are pervasive, I don't know who is putting the signs up, and the tea party leaders have condemned the signs. And according to an analysis by RealClearPolitics.com, tea party members are more liberal toward African Americans than the general white population is."

As The Factor reported previously, a physician named Faiz Khan - a "truther" who believes 9/11 was perpetrated by the U.S. government - is associated with Faisal Abdul Rauf, the man behind the mosque near Ground Zero. When Factor producer Dan Bank caught up with him, Khan said he has no current relationship with Rauf. In a related story, Fox News correspondent Eric Shawn conducted a confrontational interview with another 9/11 conspiracy theorist, Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. The Factor asked Shawn for his impression of Ahmadinejad. "I think he has a mission," Shawn replied, "to oppose American policy in Afghanistan and Iraq. I don't think he's mentally unstable - he is exactly the same off-camera as he is on-camera. He told me I am backed by the Defense Department."

Bernie Goldberg gave his reaction to the media aspects of the poll cited in the Talking Points Memo. "This says that the old media world continues to crumble," Goldberg declared. "This is the real reason so many in the mainstream media hate Fox News - Fox is threatening their very existence and is bad for their business. Also, voters can't vote until November 2nd, but as disenchantment with President Obama has grown, people have been voting with their remote control device and they've been switching to Fox. Fox had all the Republicans and conservatives already, now they're getting independents. That's bad news for the other cable operations and bad news for the Democratic Party." The Factor added that FNC has an ever-greater responsibility to be fair, balanced and accurate: "We've modified our approach on this program - we are really fact-driven. We used to be more ideological, now we're not."

President Clinton, campaigning for Democratic candidates in New England, mocked some of the tea party-backed Republican candidates. The Factor's Check: "I don't think President Clinton looks good - he's on that vegan diet and he's a little drawn." Meanwhile, former 'green jobs' czar Van Jones claimed Americans should be "fearful" of the tea partiers. The Factor's Check: "Obviously many Americans disagree with Mr. Jones as his crew is losing support while the tea party is gaining momentum."

Gerry Shanholt, Dallas, TX: "The fact that the Justice Department will not pursue voting abuses unless minorities are the victims is setting back racial harmony in this country."

David Spharler, Pittsburg, CA: "Bill, how about a follow-up on how the other media dealt with the testimony that the Justice Department is racially biased."

Jennifer Bradley, Fort Collins, CO: "Bill, there is no such thing as reverse racism."

Deborah Cartee, Statesboro, GA: "Colbert's appearance at the Capitol was natural. It's not like he was the only clown there."

Monday's Patriot and/or Pinhead: Either Speaker Nancy Pelosi, who praised Stephen Colbert's mock Congressional testimony on immigration, or her top lieutenant Steny Hoyer, who called Colbert's testimony an embarrassment.