By DAVID MARTIN
Matt Schofield, the Kansas City Star reporter who wears a ushanka in a weirdly prominent photograph appearing on the paper's politics blog, wrote a terribly misleading entry about John McCain cutting into Barack Obama's lead in the polls.
Schofield's entry, published yesterday, suggested that Joe the Plumber was having an impact on the race. The evidence? A Gallup poll showing Obama leading McCain by four percentage points among likely voters.
Schofield added the requisite disclaimers (polls are a snapshot in time; national polls do not foretell the electoral-college map). Still, the entry veered into Matt Drudge territory with its conclusion that the race might be, as Schofield put it, a dead heat.
In fact, the polls project an Obama rout. On the same day that hat guy saw McCain surging, another poll watcher felt the Arizona senator had had his worst day of the year.
Chicago writer Nate Silver has created a Web site that strives to make the best possible objective assessment of the likely outcome of upcoming elections. The site, FiveThirtyEight.com, collects data from multiple polls and uses simulations, regression estimates, inferential processes and other important-sounding concepts.
While Schofield looked for meaning in one poll, Silver studied seven different national trackers and determined that Obama's electoral position appeared "as strong as ever." Moreover, Obama seems to have put a lock on crucial states such as Ohio and Pennsylvania and is even beating McCain in Indiana and Montana. At this moment, Silver puts McCain's chances of winning the election at 3.7 percent.
Some dead heat.
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In the anti-journalism world of today where any fucktard with Google can �write� for just about every media outlet in existence, please spare me your attacks on one of the only journalists more obscure than you, David.
You, and your brethren in the mainstream media, have flat out ass raped the journalism of Bernstein and Woodward. You have succumbed to only being able to find a political story AFTER someone else reports it. You dub biased political commentary and op eds �journalism� and are no more a watchdog than Jeffry Dahmer was a good date.
In fact, you have established a situation whereby a McCain win would likely be questioned and deemed fabricated even if the media doesn�t succeed in affecting the election. Truly, the best hope that we as American have is that the media dies from its corruption before it dies of its economic woes.
Whether the election is a landslide or McCain ekes out a victory is inconsequential to this post, Mike. Schofield's entry was shoddy not because it gave hope to the GOP but because it misstated what was happening in the polls on 10/21.
wormwood, that line about the bear is the best thing on Pitch ever.
mike, dont stop believing!
I hate to burst your bubble my man, but on the grass roots level, McCain is gaining. If you want to put all your eggs in the basket of these whacked out polls (which are now having to come out and defend themselves for their unrealistic swings) then knock yourself out. Fact of the matter, in the primaries Obama was polling several points higher than reality, much like in the general election. There is good reason for Democrats to feel nervous. Despite their best efforts to completely attempt to convince themselves and everyone else that this is a "Reagan Type" landslide, in reality it could go either way.
I hate to burst your bubble my man, but on the grass roots level, McCain is gaining. If you want to put all your eggs in the basket of these whacked out polls (which are now having to come out and defend themselves for their unrealistic swings) then knock yourself out. Fact of the matter, in the primaries Obama was polling several points higher than reality, much like in the general election. There is good reason for Democrats to feel nervous. Despite their best efforts to completely attempt to convince themselves and everyone else that this is a "Reagan Type" landslide, in reality it could go either way.
I hate to burst your bubble my man, but on the grass roots level, McCain is gaining. If you want to put all your eggs in the basket of these whacked out polls (which are now having to come out and defend themselves for their unrealistic swings) then knock yourself out. Fact of the matter, in the primaries Obama was polling several points higher than reality, much like in the general election. There is good reason for Democrats to feel nervous. Despite their best efforts to completely attempt to convince themselves and everyone else that this is a "Reagan Type" landslide, in reality it could go either way.
He's wearing a hat? I always thought he was being slowly shit out by a tiny bear.
Yes.. The race is tightening. I am not a huge fan of either OBAMA or Sarah Palin. I was a Clinton supporting Democrat voted Democrat life long.. I respect John McCain for his service to the Country and Truthfulness in fighting for America. God Bless John McCain & wish that he wins..Against the OBAMA Money & OBAMA CBS, OBAMA ABC & OBAMA NBC, OBAMA CNN and not to mention OBAMA York Times.. They are worse than the actual candidate. OBAMA is in experienced .. & he clearly is hiding that. However, the media is vicious & are trying to dig American deeper in to its economic & international crisis. John McCain is the HOPE..
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