Debate results won't be clear for a few days, and the average of polls is still a statistical tie.
Burr Send a noteboard - 17/10/2012 07:43:57 PM
Although, if I were going to cherrypick a poll, I'd pick one that proved accurate in the last election (i.e., neither Rasmussen nor Gallup, which after all the votes were counted both ended up being on the lower end of the polling ranks).
Tying for most accurate were Democracy Corps, Foxnews/Opinion Dynamic, CNN/Opinion Research, and Ipsos/McClatchy. Of those, only Ipsos has polled since the first debate, and their latest poll (before last night's debate) shows Obama back in the lead and with the momentum.
Of course, even unbiased cherrypicking is still cherrypicking. It's still better to average all the recent polls. That does show Romney with the tiniest of leads, which is more likely to be random error than reality. And even that fails to account for last night's debate, which could go either way... but for which tracking polls suggest Obama won by a very small margin. So probably we are still at a statistical tie, though maybe with Obama having the illusory lead this time.
But then you've got to account for the Democrats' early voting advantage (much of which they got in while Obama's polls were soaring), for Obama's electoral advantage (which is slimmer now, but still present), and for turnout (which could do strange things this year).
Tying for most accurate were Democracy Corps, Foxnews/Opinion Dynamic, CNN/Opinion Research, and Ipsos/McClatchy. Of those, only Ipsos has polled since the first debate, and their latest poll (before last night's debate) shows Obama back in the lead and with the momentum.
Of course, even unbiased cherrypicking is still cherrypicking. It's still better to average all the recent polls. That does show Romney with the tiniest of leads, which is more likely to be random error than reality. And even that fails to account for last night's debate, which could go either way... but for which tracking polls suggest Obama won by a very small margin. So probably we are still at a statistical tie, though maybe with Obama having the illusory lead this time.
But then you've got to account for the Democrats' early voting advantage (much of which they got in while Obama's polls were soaring), for Obama's electoral advantage (which is slimmer now, but still present), and for turnout (which could do strange things this year).
||||||||||*MySmiley*
Only so evil.
Only so evil.
This message last edited by Burr on 17/10/2012 at 07:55:11 PM
Is the election over? NEW GALLUP - ROMNEY +6% - 51% to 45% -
17/10/2012 06:50:26 PM
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why do you hate america so much? *NM*
17/10/2012 06:57:23 PM
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That is an absurd statement no matter what your politics are.
17/10/2012 09:57:59 PM
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It was no less absurd all those years that the Conservatives asked that of Liberals
17/10/2012 11:17:45 PM
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I'm not Rush Limbaugh. I responded to moondog's specific statement. *NM*
17/10/2012 11:27:26 PM
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I think that we can all agree on....
17/10/2012 07:16:01 PM
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Agreed - even for someone that enjoys politics, it gets old after a while. *NM*
17/10/2012 09:39:33 PM
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Yeah the elections over all right, a slam dunk to Obama, check with the bookies
17/10/2012 07:35:14 PM
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You persist in this fiction
17/10/2012 10:06:07 PM
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obama still has the easier path to victory
17/10/2012 10:22:58 PM
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I wouldn't dispute that for an instant.
17/10/2012 10:25:46 PM
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I think Silver's model tries to account for historical turnouts
17/10/2012 10:32:24 PM
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Debate results won't be clear for a few days, and the average of polls is still a statistical tie.
17/10/2012 07:43:57 PM
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It ain't over till the fat lady sings, and all that.
17/10/2012 10:07:11 PM
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It is interesting how partisan faith in polls is directly proportional to their candidates numbers.
17/10/2012 11:56:49 PM
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