4 ms·
Exit pollsters should be regulated, I agree, if only to avoid an expensive unnecessary investigation. The media says that Obama and Romney are neck & neck, bec
by genwin 14y ago
Exit pollsters should be regulated, I agree, if only to avoid an expensive unnecessary investigation.
The media says that Obama and Romney are neck & neck, because that gets more viewers, which sells the advertisements they depend on. (Every presidential election in your lifetime is guaranteed to be declared a "virtual tie" by the media--you'll hear those exact words every 4 years.) Those who understand stats know (with almost certainty) that it'll be a landslide for Obama in the electoral college.
- twoodfin 14y agoHow old are you? Within my lifetime there have been at least six presidential elections that were absolutely not reported as "virtual ties", including the last one.
- genwin 14y agoFound in 5 seconds: "Gallup Daily: Obama-McCain Race Reverts to Virtual Tie" Found in another 5 seconds: "National Poll Shows Bush, Kerry in Virtual Tie" I could go on.
- twoodfin 14y agoThat Gallup poll is from June. The race was a virtual tie then. November reporting is a different story. And Bush/Kerry was also pretty damned close. Not one of the races I was referring to.
- genwin 14y agoThat's just the one I found in 5 seconds. This one's from mid-August 2008: "New [LA Times/Bloomberg] poll shows McCain - Obama in virtual tie". And from Sept: "[NBC News/Wall Street Journal] Poll shows Obama and McCain in virtual tie". 3 months later, still a virtual tie! I'm sure I could find a closer one. I didn't say the media would always report that in November. I went back to 1992 and still found "virtual tie" reports. That's 5 elections in a row.