I've been interested in politics and political media coverage since Roe v. Wade, when I was 13.  I pay attention to the rhetoric,  I remember who said what, and I look for the outcome.   In 35 years, I've noticed a few things.

First, during presidential campaigns, the Democratic candidate always polls five to eight points better than they wind up doing in the election.

Why should this be?

Could it be that the polls are not designed to find out where the public actually is, but are weighted to produce a certain false reality?  Too often these days, polls publish headlines that give a strong impression, but on closer examination, it turns out that the sample group were heavily of one persuasion and the questions themselves are biased.

I once took a phone survey.  One of the questions the girl asked me was actually "Do you support the proposed new levy for schools or are you against public education?"   

Nope, no bias there.

If that was in any way indicative of how most political polls are worded, any pollster can produce any result they want.

Like an five to eight point lead for the candidate of the pollster's choice.

Polls are nothing more than a form of advertising; Four out of Five Dentists prefer Crest! and Three out of Five American's prefer Candidate A!

Advertising has nothing to do with reality.

The media has always been biased and since the Vietnam era, that bias has tilted left.  We all know now what Walter Kronkite's world view is, but back when he was the most trusted man in America,  he was careful to preserve a veneer of objectivity. 

The second thing I've noticed about the media is that since the interminable recounts of 2000, the veneer of objectivity has shattered.  Katie Couric and Charlie Gibson may still cling to  the idea that they are objective but only a fool believes it.  I'm not saying I think either of them should've gone easy on Sarah Palin, I'm just saying that an objective media would've asked the exact same questions of Joe Biden and not given him a pass when he said that FDR went on tv to calm the country after the crash of '29.  That was so stupid on so many levels and for so many reasons it made Dan Quayle's' misspelling of 'potato' small potatoes, indeed.

Why would the mainstream media relinquish it's objectivity?

Could it be a sign of desperation?

The ascendance of the alternate media has sent the world of journalism into a tailspin.

Talk radio and the internet not only present competition to the MSM for consumers of news but for the hearts and minds of those consumers as well.  They report on events from a perspective that the MSM has been ignoring for years.

In the presidential election of 2000, all the networks but Fox called Florida for Gore early in the evening.  Way too early for accuracy, as it turned out.  Why would they do that?  No news organization wants to be wrong, do they?  I believe they did it to suppress voter turnout.  It's a form of trash talk.  "Don't even bother, you don't stand a chance, we'll crush you!" 

The third thing I've noticed is that the media will begin making excuses for failure as soon as they suspect failure is possible. It also seems that the failure of voters to support the proper candidate always lies in the voter, it's never caused by a fundamental flaw in the candidate. Hillary isn't walking away with the nomination?  Clearly it's because voter's are sexist.  No way could it be because no one wanted to return the Clinton's to the White House.  The narrative is that Bill Clinton is the most beloved President the country has ever had.  No one wants to suggest that perhaps we're more in love with him now that they're gone than we ever were while he was debasing the office. We can't even consider the idea that maybe even those who really love Bubba don't want him back in the White House to possibly destroy our last chance of writing a legacy for him that doesn't include a blue dress and impeachment.  No, no; Hillary lost because of sexism.

Fourth, I realized while listening to some talking heads the other day that none of them had any idea what they were talking about.  They were all just saying what they wished was true.  Any idiot can do that. I'm doing it right now!
 
Fifth, I've noticed that the press ran a lot of stories since the conventions wondering how McCain was keeping up with Obama in the polls.

Why should anyone wonder that?  No, wrong question.

Why would any objective person wonder that? It's not as if the Republicans nominated an untried, unknown radical with a shadowy past, a closet full of unsavory associates and nothing to recommend him but a campaign based on vacuous platitudes and a nice smile. It would be natural to wonder how such a candidate as that could hold his own in the polls but the Republicans chose a known quantity; an old work horse with a history of fighting the Washington establishment and love him or hate him (most of us have done both), a long record of significant legislation.  So, both parties had their conventions and the public is evenly split.  Why this should be is only a mystery to people who are blinded by their love for one candidate or another.

The polls which showed McCain keeping up with Obama through September were put out by the same outfits which have been weighting polls and skewing sample populations for decades. 

If the polls show McCain and Obama even, I suspect McCain is actually up five to eight points.

A week or two ago, the storyline all over the press was that America is racist!

I don't doubt that there are plenty of racists in America, but I do think that calling America a racist country is as inaccurate as calling it a redheaded country.  You can't deny that there are redheads in America!  Plenty of 'em!

When I heard the MSM caterwauling about racism in America, I suspected that their internal polls smelled heavily of defeat for Obama.

Then, overnight, Obama's poll numbers skyrocketed!

This week, we're being told that it's over!  Over!  Obama is polling so far ahead of McCain that there's no need to actually vote next month; it's a done deal.  

According to the polls, America is poised to elect the most left wing, pro-abortion, inexperienced, unaccomplished with the most radical associations and allies of any candidate ever to run for President on a major ticket. 

 We have a media with a long track record of obfuscation and outright lies, telling us  Republican's may as well stay home because three out of five racist Americans can't wait to elect Obama by a landslide.

Pay no attention to the man behind the curtain.

 

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