 For those of us who are beyond frustrated with the shallowness and superficiality of the corporate media's political "reporters" (using the word loosely, as I can't figure out what value added 90% of these people have as actual journalists) and punditocracy, you've got to read Nate Silver's New York Times column this morning ("For Romney to Win, State Polls Must Be Statistically Biased"), as it's an instant classic. Bottom line: Nate calls out these "reporters" for their agenda of relentlessly pushing a (false) narrative that the Obama-Romney race as "too close to call" (or its synonyms -- "dead heat," "neck and neck," etc.) no matter what the polls show, so that viewers/readers/listeners keep their eyes and ears glued to the TV stations, radio shows, and newspapers at which these "reporters" and pundits work. Here's an excerpt from Nate's article, but definitely read the entire thing. It rocks.
...we've about reached the point where if Mr. Romney wins, it can only be because the polls have been biased against him. Almost all of the chance that Mr. Romney has in the FiveThirtyEight forecast, about 16 percent to win the Electoral College, reflects this possibility.Yes, of course: most of the arguments that the polls are necessarily biased against Mr. Romney reflect little more than wishful thinking.
Nevertheless, these arguments are potentially more intellectually coherent than the ones that propose that the race is "too close to call." It isn't. If the state polls are right, then Mr. Obama will win the Electoral College. If you can't acknowledge that after a day when Mr. Obama leads 19 out of 20 swing-state polls, then you should abandon the pretense that your goal is to inform rather than entertain the public.
Basically, Nate Silver singlehandedly just humiliated a large chunk of the corporate/Beltway media establishment, the Joe Scarboroughs and Chris Cillizzas of the world, among many others. Not that they'll care, given how arrogant most of these people are, but still...gotta love it, especially since Silver has more brain cells in his pinky then all a dozen of the political "reporters" have in their entire bodies, put together. LOL |
