This week, an organization calling itself the Better World Campaign release a new poll. The headline of the press release oddly declared, "Majority of Americans Believe in the United Nations."

Why not go further? Why not say that a majority of Americans support the U.N., or think the U.N. is doing a good job, or want the U.N. -- with apologies to P.J. O'Rourke -- to get the chickweed out of their lawn? Because that's not what Americans think, and the Better World Campaign knows it.

Indeed, a spate of polling over the last 24 months demonstrates conclusively that Americans distrust the world body, believe it is anti-American, and have a decidedly unfavorable opinion of it.

For example, a survey conducted for the Center for Individual Freedom in December of 2004 revealed that Americans believe the U.N. is anti-American by a two to one margin.

A September 2006 survey by the Hudson Institute found that "Only 26% of the population believes America gets 'good value for all the money we contribute to the United Nations every year.'" And further that "71% of the population want America to cut its financial contribution to the UN.  A majority from every geographic, demographic, attitudinal and political subgroup wants to see reductions in American funding."

Most damningly, a September 2006 poll by Rasmussen Research revealed that only 31% of Americans have a favorable opinion of the U.N. while 45% have an unfavorable opinion. "Those numbers reflect an erosion of support for the world body in this country. Two years ago opinion on the United Nations was evenly divided--44% favorable and 42% unfavorable."

If the U.N. were a Member of Congress running for reelection, it would be polishing up its resume.

But dueling surveys are nothing new. And neither are attempts by opposing parties in policy disputes to manipulate poll-taking and poll results to support their own point of view.

That's why the Better World Campaign's survey is such a stinking pile, while the others are worth spending a little time with.

From the press release, it appears that the Better World Campaign's survey asks a series of loaded questions, carefully constructed to elicit a certain set of predictable answers. Frankly, it's a little surprising that the findings weren't more favorable to the U.N., given the apparent wording of the questions. Of course, we'll never know, because the Better World Campaign hasn't released the complete poll, or even the exact wording of the questions that were asked.

On the other hand, the Rasmussen survey used standard, common, off-the-shelf phrasing to gauge perceptions of the U.N. "Please tell me if you have a favorable or unfavorable opinion of the United Nations. If you have no opinion or have never heard of it, please says so." It's a familiar question, included in nearly every survey on just about every issue. It's comparable across polls and pollsters. And the results can be judged against the results of the same question on other issues.

The Hudson Institute asked a number of questions, but we can review their validity for ourselves because they have published their entire survey -- both the precise wording of the questions and the complete topline results.

So why would the Better World Campaign try to put out a phony poll that tries to paint a rosy picture about the U.N.? Who knows? And in the end, who cares? Their job is to support the U.N. They'll do and say whatever they have to. But this sort of press release and this sort of poll only undermine their credibility and create further suspicion about the very organization they are supposed to be helping.

The U.N. needs a watchdog, not a cheerleader, and U.N. leaders need to understand that they have badly alienated the American people -- the very people who provide the largest share of the world body's funding. That requires an honest portrait -- and honest change -- not a phony poll.