Pope Poll Pottpourri

Several new polls relating to public opinion of the pope, and on who the next pope should be:

One CNN poll found that Seventy-Eight percent of Catholics had a favorable opinion of the Pope during the end of his life.

Another poll by Le Moyne College and Zogby International found that Ninty-Eight percent of respondants in the United States believe that Jean Paul II is worthy of sainthood.

Interestingly enough, a CNN/USA Today/Gallup poll released last week also found that U.S. catholics would support some changes in doctorine from the next Pope, including changes in policy on stem cell research, birth control, and allowing priests to marry.

International Pollin' Roundup

Hey, did you know there are other countries? I didn't. I mean, I'd heard about Iraq and Canada and maybe Mexico once, from like this dude on TV.

Wait, no I didn't.

But there has been a dearth of polling news lately. So now we play the "lets look up some international polling news game". This is a fun game because after this game you know that I will play the "lets do a 'best of' post" game. And everyone loves 'best of' posts!!!

First up, the Lebonese opposition has some serious issues with Syria, according to this article from the Arab News. They accuse Syria of fixin' the polls to keep the Pro-Syria ruling party in power.

Next, all the way in Eastern Europe, we've got the last in the latest line of a string of leftist, western-leaning opposition parties nearing power. This time it is in Slovakia, where a liberal opposition group is performing strongly in pre-election polls.

Finally, out of Africa, we have a very different, very unhappy opposition party. In Zimbabwe the opposition party accuses President Robert Mugabe's government of fixing the recent elections.

Polling the Culture of Life

A recent ABC news poll has found that most Americans support the court's initial decision on the Terri Schiavo case.

Seventy percent of those polled thought it was wrong for Congress to become involved in a private medical matter. In fact, sixty-seven percent also believe that the lawmakers involved did so for political reasons.

Some interesting numbers, especially given the decisiveness with which some members of congress have taken action on this issue.

UN-Believable!

Think polling a city is hard? A state? A country?

Try 23 countries.

A new poll from the BBC shows that people of twenty-three nations - more than 23,000 people, in fact - overwhelming support both expanding the UN security council and giving the UN itself a larger role in world affairs.

Yes, that includes the United States. Maybe it would be a good idea for us to pay those dues this time?

Stuck in The Office?

No, not the actual office in which you will spend most of your puny mortal lives. I mean the TV show, which parodies your puny mortal office lives.

If you're British, of course. We Americans don't really get any decent TV (oh, wait, I forgot Joey) but overseas they've got some decent options.

A new UK Comic Relief poll has The Office coming out ahead of series such as The Simpsons and Friends as the funniest TV show ever.

The survey also included hits like The Black Adder and Monty Pythons Flying Circus, plus a few more that you've never heard of and thus are irrelevant. If you're American, that is.

Apparently There is a Hip Cell Phone Only Crowd I was Not Aware Of...

At this very moment they are preparing their revolution from the depths of Williamsburg like all other hipsters. Thats right. Not a bunch of college students, or young artists, or professional mimes, or Crispin Glover.

No. Its the "Cell Phone Only Crowd". No landline, no problem.

According to a new article from CNN, pollsters are finally confronting the issue of dealing with this peculiar portion of the population. If you recall, it was a serious issue last election, as cell phone numbers are often more difficult to find, and even more difficult to justifiably call for survey purposes.

Plans include reinbursement schemes and consideration of safety concerns like what to do if a respondant is driving or operating a chain saw while performing neurosurgery.

No word on the safety concerns for if the respondant is also Crispin Glover.

Hillary-ous!

Watch out. I have more puns from where that came from, and I'm going to start shooting them off unless my list of demands are met.

My first demand:

Could someone please tell me exactly how Hillary Clinton has made such an astonishing come back? A new New York Times poll shows that the senator's approval rating in New York State has rocketed to 69 percent from 58 percent in October.

What is more, when matched against both Rudy and Pataki in the sentatorial race, she comes up ahead. Some very, very surprising information, considering she remains relatively unpopular nationwide.

So I need someone to explain it to me. And I don't want the explanation where you talk about how she has "toned down her discussions of abortion and gay rights". I want an explanation involving lasers and robots and Tony Danza.

And then, the puns will stop. I swear.

Morals? What are those?

Certainly not something we should be teaching children at school, home, or anywhere else.

Well, a new Scripps survey shows some surprising statistics about what Americans value.
For example, only 31 percent of Americans, out of over a thousand surveyed, cite homosexuality as a serious moral issue, compared to 71 percent concerned with hunger.

There are, of course, separations based on the normal demographic splits, with Republicans very much more concerned about Same-Sex marriage than Democrats.

What surprises me are the missing morals - how many Americans are angered by the lack of catagories including single drivers in the carpool lanes, or cell phones in the movies? Surely, we cannot simple ignore them! You try sitting through Hitch while someone is talking to their girlfriend in Nepal.

Also, thankfully, only 18 percent of respondents were concerned with gambling. The other 82 percent were glued to their televisions waiting for the results of the Pick Four, which they all unfortunately lost.

Social Insecurity

Well, after waiting a whole week to try and think of an appropriate pre-Valentine's Day title for this post, I think I've finally got it. So yes, this post's oh so clever title could both be seen as a metaphor for someone's romantic ineptitude (not mine, of course) and as a play on Social Security, which is apparently something my Grandmother gets a bit of, my dad will get less of, and that I'll forget about by the time I'm their age.

A new CNN/USA Today/Gallup Poll shows that more than two-thirds of adults think that workers with higher incomes should pay Social Security taxes on all their wages (and not just the $90,000 the government can tax for social security now) .

Of more than a thousand adults surveyed, this was by far the most popular option for revamping Social Security - with reduced benefits and increased taxes for all workers falling far behind. Also, more than half of those believe that the plan being pushed by the current administration - to allow investors to put some of their Social Security into private plans - is a "bad idea". Only four percent of respondents said that Social Security was doing A-Ok.

What I want is a poll of people who think Social Insecurity is a great idea for a blog title. Then again, Google can't be wrong.

U.S. Students Unfamiliar with Constitution, Familiar with Ashlee Simpson

I know what you're saying. "Gee, Poll Pollution, isn't it just all the rage to bad mouth our nation's children?" Well sure it is. And you know why? Because it's darned fun! Heck, I'm not laughing at them - I'm laughing with them!

Okay, I'm laughing at them.

But can you blame me? No, you can't. Not when 36% of high school students think the press should get "government approval" before publishing stories. The press. That includes (I would hope) bloggers. Such as myself. And I have it on good word that there are some people higher up that would love to stifle me and my Ashlee Simpson ramblings. Enough, they say. You've taken the joke as far as it will go, they say.

Well, according to an extensive survey of high school students conducted by the University of Connecticut, this is exactly what many of our nations youngsters think should happen.

Some highlights:

32% think the press has "too much freedom".
75% believe flag burning is illegal (it is not).
73% either "didn't know how they felt" about the First Amendment or "take it for granted".

Think you can take it with a grain of salt? Not when the survey, commisioned by the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation, questioned over 100,000 students.

Scary? Maybe, or maybe it's not. Maybe I've had so much freedom lately to write that I''ve been thinking too much and find things like this scary. Maybe if someone took away that freedom I'd be less scared. Maybe I wouldn't mention Ashlee Simpson so much.

Nahhh.

This one's going out to Williamsburg...

At last, an opportunity to post about a subject that is poll related and to provide a direly needed boost to my indie street cred. So ya'll should feel free to unplug yourselves from your Bright Eyes or Modest Mouse or Tim Mcgraw or whatever and pay attention for however many moments your far-too-short hipster attention span can spare.

A recent BBC news poll found that the group The Bravery is 2005's most promising act. What, you say? You've never heard of them? Dude. I'm just gonna give up. You think I can't see through that trucker hat and track jacket? Well I can. I know that iPod mini is filled with Bling 182 and Mariah Carey. You can't fool me.

And, hey, I totally understand. Glitter, anyone?

Boost for Bloomberg?

Sorry if the post is a little NYC-centric today. What, you say? There is something going on down in DC today? Well, does it have a poll associated with it? Thought not.

It is a pretty tough act being mayor of the "big apple" after the ever popular Rudy (no, not this Rudy). And for a while, it looked like Mayor Bloomberg might have some stiff competition come this year's mayoral race.

But things are looking up for Bloomy. A new Quinnipiac University poll shows Bloomberg tied in popularity with former Bronx Borough President Fernando Ferrer - his highest rating yet. He is running ahead of the other Democratic challengers as well. This is quite a change from his relatively low approval ratings, (31 percent) in the summer of 2003.

Me, I put my money on the guy with the, err, money.

Poll Wars: A New Hope

Yes, I am that much of a dork. But I just wanted to give you the heads up about a new survey conducted for the AP by Ipsos-Public Affairs. The findings?

Apparently Americans are hopefuly for President Bush's second term, while apprehensive about the future of Iraq.

I'm Back!!!

Yes, after a relaxing and, I might say, well deserved hiatus, I'm back with all the Ashlee Simpson polling news you can handle. There are going to be a few changes around here. For one, all political polling articles will now be replaced with Ashlee Simpson articles.

Just kidding. Sort of. Now that the election is over, and you can all go back to sleep for another four years, I'm going to be doing a little more focusing on the sleezy, celebrity themed polls you know and love. Ashton Kutcher? Check. Gary Coleman? Check. Did I mentioned Ashton Kutcher already?

For today, however, I'm going to ring in the New Year with one more ole' political polling article (though I promise to do others from time to time).

Wired has an article on whether or not polls can be fixed. It deals with the whole Zogby fiasco from the election and brings up some good points: why don't the all the networks pool their resources in order to create a more accurate exit polling envirorment? What is the real impact of the cell phone problem? Is Brad really getting with Angelina?

Ok, maybe not the last one. But its a good recap of my last few hundred articles, and necessary reading if you can't take this class at Columbia.

Coming soon...

Just when you thought all was safe in the world of polling...

Us here (err, I) at Poll Pollution are going to be writing a series of research articles on polls in the news.

But this time it'll be worldwide. Remember this post? Well, it seems that there are in fact other countries besides
the US. And while I'll leave it to you to decide whether or not they actually matter, I will be providing you a glimpse at the trials and tribulations of polling that occur in other countries.

For a sneak peak at the first article, to be released next week, check this out.

If there happen to be any stories you'd like to see here at Poll Pollution, email your tips to pollpollution (at) gmail.com

Court Jesting

According to a recent AP poll, six out of ten Americans favor retirement requirements for Supreme Court justices.

Of course, when asked what job William H. Rehnquist held on the court , 59 percent of those polled didn't know. I mean, come on people. Everyone knows he is the Supreme Court Jester. Like, duh. Actually, thats not so far from the...well, I won't go there.

But seriously, he is the Chief Justice. And the fact that people don't even know who the Chief Justice is sort of makes me hope nobody starts clamoring for amendments to the consitution about this whole age thing...

Poll Approval

Happy Thanksgiving Ya'll. Me, I'll be spending it sleeping.

But if you happen to be awake, check out this article from CNN - it seems that Bush's job approval ratings have taken a slight increase since the election.

Exit Polled

Well, it looks like some of the ramifications from the exit poll debacle are starting to roll in.

The consortium that conducts the poll has voted to release the numbers a few hours early to prevent the sort of leaking we saw this year.

Then again, doesn't the fact that the numbers were leaked sort of preclude any attempt they might make to hold them in? what are they gonna do, wait to count the numbers till the next month?

Maybe.

We are not alone...

You might think that we in the States are the only ones with polling problems.

Then again, you might think alot of things if you boarded yourself into your apartment and only left for water and to chase away the nieghbors.

But for your edutainment, check out these following examples of polling problems:

From Nambia

From Ireland

From Hong Kong

So lots of countries have polling problems, and a pretty wide variety of them too.

See! I'm innocent!

It's midterm season part two over here for me, but just so ya'll know: us bloggers are innocent.

That only exit poll thing, the election - we just report the leaks and anything else that falls short of real news.

Anyway, there was an article on CNN about a blogging conference - say what you will about us, we are becoming more prevalent.

And you can't do anything about it! Short of destroying the world!

But please don't.

Moral Kombat

Well, it seems that the exit polling articles are coming a-tricklin' in.

Last week I got my hands on a new article about the inner workings of the exit polls, and how certain options influenced voters' answers to the poll.

It seems that the phrase "moral values" was the key issue for voters, above even the economy and Iraq. Except, if "moral issues" was replaced with specific topics, they fell behind Iraq and the economy.

So what exactly does moral issues mean? To me, it seems that American voters are being bogged down daily in deep meditation on the nature of Kant's kingdom of ends. I can understand.

Seriously, though, its a shame that such a phrase could be used - its incredibly vague and doesn't, in itself, really mean anything. Even Iraq and the economy can be moral issues.

So, I propose that for the next exit poll in 2008, they go all the way and if they think moral issues in the country are "headed in the right direction".

Where have all the pollsters gone?

Thats a good question. We have a little thing called an election, and a few of their numbers are way off, and the pollsters hide under a rock. All we're left with is a poll or two on lip sinking.

There certainly was a bit of a backlash, and a number of these pollsters seem to be laying low following the results.
Sure, they can blame us blogsters all they want, but we got those faulty numbers from you guys, kiddos.
The Slate article linked to above is a good compendium of why the pollster's justification for the exit polls just doesn't cut it, and I'm compelled to agree.

But don't worry. I'll be here. And even if my posts aren't quite as frequent and as chock full of faulty exit poll data as before, you can bet they'll be as full of faulty irreverent humor as ever.

And speaking of being full of it, did anyone hear that Hugh Grant is going give up acting and become a brilliant scriptwriter?

Moving on...

It wasn't just enough to have all those exit polls. I think we need polls on the exit polls of the actual polls. How totally post-modern would that be?

While your chewing on that one, it seems that voters are, for the most part, relieved by the decisive election. Not that it was a landslide by any means, but for most people a repeat of 2000 would have been bad news.

And finally, remember all those pundits complaining that the youth didn't come out to vote?
Well, I've got news for them: they did!

Actually, we. I did my part! Did you?

Election Redux

Well, it looks like we finally are starting to get some answers as far as what happened with all those exit polls. Good NYT article, but what I like is the title "Report Says Problems Led to Skewed Surveying Data". Gee, and here I thought the thing that had lead to the skewed survey data was...uhhh....something without problems.

But its ok, because all those polls really didn't effect the election anyway. Of course they didn't. Polls are in newspapers, and nobody reads anymore. I mean, come on! We get all our news through that occipital jack, right? And I didn't see any polling news there.

At any rate, problems with the actual polling machines are worth noting. 2006 will be a test of whether or not we can work out the kinks. Honestly, I'm still skeptical - its kind of too bad we have to sacrifice accountability for technology - theres just something about those nice big levers in the upstate voting machines I've come to love.

And it seems that voting over the internet is still a long way off. Which is ok, since I'll just wait for the singularity, when voting will be like...sooo...2004. We'll vote with our minds.

Of course, I'm sure Diebold would still find a way too...well, I'll keep my mouth shut.

It's my fault.

Just wanted you to know. Apparently, blogs are to blame for all those exit poll problems.
Nevermind that the exit poll was actually, and remains, incorrect in several states.

Why was it correct in some states and wrong in others? There are questions that need answering, and looking merely towards bloggers isn't going to solve anything. The consortium that makes those exits polls needs to take a long, hard look at their methodology - or this will keep happening every four years.

And if the exit polls don't tell you anything, you can always decide the election via card tricks.

Four More Years

But only a few more days for me to assess these crazy polls. I'm looking for more information on what exactly happened with those crazy exit polls, and if anyone has some please feel free to email me (you can find the contact info on the left side of this page).

I hate to say it, but I was right. Actually, I don't hate to say it. Zogby, and several others, were way off this time. But those exit polls are paid for by a whole consortium of groups.
And something is up, for sure. So you can expect more articles on that from me soon.

Something else of interest were the way the New York vote spread out (even though it comes out very democratic, Bush leads in many precincts).

Finally, if any of you actually did write in candidates, or was wondering whether or not that little strip of paper in your booth was supposed to be used as a tissue in this crazy flu season, check here.

Its over.......

...and boy do we have alot to talk about. Especially exit polls. Excpect some in depth coverage right here over the next few days.

Bedtime for Me...

In case you want to know who's leading, check here!

Watch the Coverage Live!

You know you want to.

So many states too close to call...

Pretty Polling Maps For You

From:

BBC

New York Times

CNN

No surprises so far.

More more more!!!

All right. Now guys, as numbers start to flow in, are the list of sites you need to be looking at.

First, a whole bunch of election night blogs from all dem legitimate news sources.

Second, the fun stuff. These sites will be updating as results roll in, and are not legitimate, or something. I'm sure you're familiar with most of them, but just in case you aren't:

Left Leaning
electoral-vote.com
dailykos

Right Leaning
the corner
The Drudge Report
Free Republic

And the list of election bloggers being most linked to by election bloggers like myself: Here.

The Game Begins

All right. You want leaked info. I've got leaked info. Looks like early information has Kerry ahead in some key battlegrounds, Bush ahead in a few others.

Says Slate:

FL: 50/49 - KERRY
OH: 52/47 - KERRY
MI: 51/48 - KERRY
PA: 58/42 - KERRY
IA: 50/48 - KERRY
WI: 53/47 - KERRY
MN: 57/42 - KERRY
NH: 58/41 - KERRY
ME: 55/44 - KERRY
NM: 49/49 - TIE
NV: 48/49 - BUSH
CO: 49/50 - BUSH
AR: 45/54 - BUSH
NC: 47/53 - BUSH

This doesn't mean you should believe these numbers. Anybody remember the exit polls from 1984? This guy does.
Also, take a look at those Penn. numbers. Look outta wack? Jonah Goldberg agrees.

What else that looks fresh...How about Zogby calling the race: Guess who?

Plus, remember those betters who were going for Bush, the ones I posted about a week or so ago? Well, they've changed their tunes today.

Wow, all of this looks like we're starting to see a winner develope. But I'm not going to call it. I'm just the messenger. Though, by all means, shoot me. Just in case you're like me and you're going to wait until all those so called legitimate news sources report in, check out these:

CNN Info Sites:

President
Legislative
Exit Polls
Electoral Votes

If you don't trust CNN I'll be back with a larger range of election sources later on.

Update Before Class

If any of you have been wondering, I will be making frantic updates tonight as all those leaked exit poll numbers come in. Certain news organizations and blogs have promised not to call any thing too early.

I, however, will be calling everything early, and often, and otherwise running around like a chicken with its head cut off. But not just any chicken with its head cut off, I'm talking about Mike, this miracle chicken.

Should be a fun time, so stick around.

The End at Last

Today, ladies and gentlemen, it ends at last. Go vote. If you aren't sure where to vote, check here. They're good people, I met them when I worked their event at Columbia Law School.

Perhaps Bush is ahead. Perhaps Kerry is ahead. Perhaps all the polls are wrong.

Tonight, we will know. I promise you. There may be law suits, there may be challenges. But this is not the year 2000, as much as the pundits think they're going to see a repeat. This time, there will be a winner, despite the polls. There may be problems with the polling machines. There may be too few polling volunteers. But there will be a winner.

And if things don't seem to work out, if there is trouble today, do not think that just because it could be worse that makes it ok. We are experiencing a paradigm shift, ladies and gentlemen, in both the socio-political and technological realms. Lets hope it goes smoothly.

It's been a great ride, ladies and gentlemen, and I'm not going to get off at this stop. I'll see you up ahead.

Poll Solution

The end is nigh, right? After all those hurricains, the Red Sox winning, the whole Ashley Simpson thing - the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse are here, and they're all carrying iPod minis.

I've been doing some thinking on polling and the end of the election based on a recent conversation I had with some friends.

Columbia is an incredibly liberal campus. However, most of my friends are relatively conservative, and do not make a good representation of the campus. New York itself is overwhelmingly liberal and in favor of Kerry, in this election especially I have seen the polarization of campus to agreat extent. Perhaps Eighty-Percent favor Kerry, and then maybefive percent are republicans, and the rest Socialists or Libertarians or Greens or Whigs.

As I said, however, many of my friends are in the Republican party here on campus, and on Friday night my Sri Lankan room mate got us to spend four hours trying to convince him who to vote for if he would be able to vote.

"Us" included two fairly liberal girls, a staunch party line conservative, a very moderate conservative who has become somewhat disenfranchised with the Bush administration, and a fiscal conservative who leans left on social issues but does not feel comfortable with several Libertarian goals and therefor remains party-less (if you haven't guessed, thats me).

We argued about every single issue that came up this election. Bythe end, you could tell who everyone was going to vote for - the party line Republican was voting for Bush, the girls for Kerry. The two of us more in the middle were considering handing in ballots with blank entries for the Presidential candidates (Not voting was out of the question for all of us except the Sri Lankan). Of course, I couldn't tell for sure, I don't have the brain scanner pollsters would like to have.

By the end of the night, the Sri Lankan still couldn't decide.

Ultimately this close election is going to come down to the samething most close elections come down to: who actually shows up to the ballot on election day. We probably won't learn anything we don't know about the favor of the American people from this election.

One important thing will happen, however. Many, many polls are goingto be proved wrong. Whoever wins. There are going to be questions that need to be answered, because the discrepencies between pollsters are too great, because the race is too close, to impossible to call. It is not like this. In reality, if polls were conducted like the census, there would be a clear, if narrow winner.

Even now, even already. There will be an election winner on November 2nd, and it will be either John Kerry or George Bush. There will be no electoral vote tie. Someone will receive more than 270. There will also be many losers, and those will be the pollsters - because this election will prove, whoever wins, that so many of them are wrong. That they need to open up their methodology, like Gallup does.

And if this happens, everybody wins.

Poll-arization

All right guys. Today is the call in part of the show, that special part of the show where you all leave comments for this post and which only happens today.

If that sentence was too much to handle, here is what I'm trying to say:

I am looking for your thoughts on the sort of direction you would like this web site to go after the election. Please leave comments for today's post. There is a poll on the right side of the page you should also take. Please, any comments on aspects of this site and my commentary that you like or dislike are fair game.

Think I should have more tech polls? Let me know! Think I should write more about Ashley Simpson!? Wayyy ahead of you, she is on the poll. But please leave comments and I will read every one. After all, I can't take out the trash if I don't know where it is.

The polling trash, that is.

In real polling news, a few more articles are available on possible problems with either polling or the actual voting systems.

There is an excellent Washington Post article (pound of human flesh required for registration) on how inaccurate recent polls have been. Excellent in the, "would have been excellent about six months ago" kind of way.

However, there is very real evidence that voters are not comfortable with the state of political polling.

Technology is changing things pretty rapidly, and if you're like me, you hate anything that is new, unless its a sequel, like the Apprentice 2, in which case its hot. Seriously, many voters do seem to be made nervous by the new technology.

So we can't trust the actual polls, can't trust the actual elections - what can we trust?
Treat Williams, that's who. He just keeps putting out quality films year after year.

But none are better than Dead Heat. He played a character called Rigor Mortis. Oh yeah!

I'm Allergic To Pollin'

I am also absolutely incapable of making clever puns. This does not prevent me from making lots and lots of absolutely horrible puns, however, like the one in the title.

And this, ladies and gentlemen, is the only thing that really keeps my low-brow, uninformed commentary apart from the likes of a real polling blog, like this one: mystery pollster.
Then again, Mystery Pollster is created by a grizzled veteran of the polling industry, and not some twenty-year old undergrad with too much time on his hands. Not that that is me.

Anyway, luckily for me his page mostly concentrates on the polling process, while I'm trying to round up recent polls and help you figure out what they really mean. Or, in other words, he's doing real work, and I'm just posting half a dozen links every day. In other words, Mystery Pollster, if you ever get to read this - I like you like Carson Daily likes NBC for keeping him on TV even though he is an idiot, and I'm jealous.

So now that that is out of the way, lets get to the good stuff.

First, Hawaii is shaping up to be a real battleground state. It was thought to be pretty solidly Democratic, but if this state is leaning towards Bush it could mean bad things for Kerry. Then again, Ashley Simpson getting caught lip sinking didn't hurt her career, so what do I know.

Second, the most recent polls out of pretty much everywhere just aren't showing us anything. All signs point in opposite directions. Is Bush ahead in Florida? I'm sure tomorrow another poll will tell us completely different. Nationally, Zogby, the pollster who most pundits consistently accuse of being slanted Democratic, (besides the ones who actually have affiliations) is the one putting Bush solidly ahead!

This year alot of crazy things are going on. We've already touched on the cell phone issue pretty frequently. Also, due to changing rules, alot more voters can vote in advance of the election. Most Americans seem ready for a repeat of 2000. Me, I've got my popcorn and soda, and my Ashley Simpson lipsinking tape ready, in case I get bored watching all of the coverage we're sure to get and need something more informative/entertaining/meaningful.

Wired seems to agree with me. Not about the Ashley Simpson (though I'm sure they do on that count too) but about the state of polling in general. It pretty much argues goes along with the whole "fake news" idea I posted yesterday, which makes me happy, because I posted that yesterday but this article came out today, meaning that I am thinking of the same sort of ideas people who get paid to write are thinking of and therefore can be assured steady and satisfying work upon completion of my undergraduate degree. Right?

Of course not. I will faily in life, just like I failed in AP calculus. Which is why the sort of electoral vote calculus (great article!) practiced by electoral-vote.com is completely beyond me for the most part. And, by proxy, any actual insight into the election as well. But you're all smart people. You all don't even know who Ashley Simpson is. I'm sure you'll be fine.