I knew I smelled something fishy
Bookworm on Mar 06 2008 at 12:31 pm | Filed under: Media matters
The moment I saw the boastful headline yesterday announcing that, if the election were held today, either Obama or Hillary would beat McCain by a mile, I suspected that something was wrong. The numbers just didn’t sound right. And of course, they’re not:
However, a closer look at the poll’s internals reveals that the poll’s respondents self-identified 40% Dem and 28% Repub, with 28% as independents (among independents, Dem-leaners among the poll’s respondents went 46% Dem, 26% Repub, and 22% neither).
Overall, the ABC News/Washington Post poll’s respondents went 56% Dem-leaning and 36% Repub-leaning, a 19-point spread. Only 84% of the voters questioned were registered. (See questions 901-904)
Really, I don’t know why we bother to consider polls anymore, I honestly don’t.
See also Hot Air, where Ed Morrissey (formerly the Captain), who has made something of a specialty out of debunking flawed media polls, explains precisely what’s wrong with this one.
On the bright side, Ben Shapiro thinks the media’s cavalier handling of McCain, which effectively relegates him to feisty underdog status, may work to his benefit.
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2 Responses to “I knew I smelled something fishy”
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Book, speaking for myself, I pay no attention whatsoever to polls. I especially pay no attention to anything sponsored by the Washington Post, or ABC News.
Clarification. The WashPost is the dominant daily newspaper in our area and I do read the Sports and Comics pages (or about half the comics) because their they carry the old classics mixed in with the new, more diversity oriented strips. On balance, the Post comics are far superior to the competing Washington Times. Still, I was willing to forego those sections and issued an edict some time back that I would no longer pay for the Post. So, my wife pays for the subscription to get the Crossword. I do walk down to the road and pick it up at the box.
Sports, comics, crossword and obituaries; that pretty well exhausts the value of the major daily published in our Capital City.
Really, I don’t know why we bother to consider polls anymore, I honestly don’t.
Polls are propaganda, Book. They should only be considered as propaganda. Meaning, polls aren’t designed to inform people of what the public is thinking. Polls are designed to make the public think in a certain way.