The story below is on the local NBC affiliate's website. This, to me, is poor journalism. #1 Considering how well (exit) polling went in the in the 2000 presidential election in Florida, polls are very suspect. #2 Why go with a headline that says, "WKYC Exclusive: McCain would lose Ohio to either Obama or Clinton?" This is a bad message to send out to the public.
Why bother voting? Channel 3 says that the Democrats would beat McCain anyway.
WKYC Exclusive: WKYC Exclusive: McCain would lose Ohio to either Obama or Clinton
An exclusive WKYC-TV/SurveyUSA poll of Ohio voters shows either Sen. Barack Obama or Sen. Hillary Clinton would defeat Sen. John McCain in the general election.
Clinton beats McCain by 10 percentage points, while Obama's margin over McCain is 3 percent. The survey polled 542 registered voters across Ohio. The exclusive poll has a margin of error of plus or minus 4.3%.Hillary Clinton's margin over John McCain was 52% to 42%, with 7% undecided. Barack Obama's lead was 47% to 44% in a head-to-head contest, with 8% of Ohio voters saying they could not yet decide that match-up.
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4 comments:
Thanks for the comment, Media Matters.
I think there is very real interest in which candidates voters are thinking of voting for, which is why posted the story.
Dan, thank you for posting. I see a serious issue with polling only 542 registered voters in a state with approximately 12 million in population and drawing a conclusion that McCain would lose. I don't know how many registered voters there are in Ohio. I think that would have helped add something to the story
I think there needs to be some perspective here. There's a real difference between who voters are THINKING of voting for and who they actually vote for or if they even vote because they might believe the contest is a foregone conclusion, as implied in the channel 3 story.
And even more, why is this promoted as an "exclusive"? This "exclusive" is merely a generalized survey of who voters like NOW. We don't know who running mates will be or who will represent the Democrats.
I recall, and I don’t have the detail, when the Media announced a presidential winner, while Californians were still at the poll voting.
Struke, for this very reason, I don't trust polls. Folks are paid to do polls; I know this because when I was out there in the political world, I was paid to do polls, especially exit polls. A lot of times my finding was altered, and not for the best. Polls are used by politicians to either scare the voters away from a candidate, or cause lazy voters to stay at home, thinking that their candidate has lost because of what the poll says --- either way it’s a tool used to stagnate the voters. It’s a trick used by both Democrats and Republicans, and the Media plays right along with it.
Now this Ohio’s poll is ridiculous. One doesn’t have to be smart to see that polling 582 folks out of apt. 12 millions is a joke ---. I am not calling voters stupid, but there are times when we are lazy, and won’t look at the reality of the numbers as it relates to polls.
That said, I am so tired of a two party system --- especially when both side don’t always represent the general public after they are elected -- and to add to that, the “Electoral College”, right alone with the so called “Super Delegates”, both are a slap in every American’s face. Our country is so screwed up when it comes to voting, someone needs to come over here and teach us something about Democracy --- because I haven’t seem too much of it in my lifetime.
I recall, and I don't have the detail, when the Media announced a presidential winner, while Californians were still at the poll voting.
Struke, for this very reason, I don't trust polls. Folks are paid to do polls; I know this because when I was out there in the political world, I was paid to do polls, especially exit polls. A lot of times my finding was altered, and not for the best. Polls are used by politicians to either scare the voters away from a candidate, or cause lazy voters to stay at home, thinking that their candidate has lost because of what the poll says --- either way it's a tool used to stagnate the voters. It's a trick used by both Democrats and Republicans, and the Media plays right along with it.
Now this Ohio's poll is ridiculous. One doesn't have to be smart to see that polling 582 folks out of apt. 12 millions is a joke ---. I am not calling voters stupid, but there are times when we are lazy, and won't look at the reality of the numbers as it relates to polls.
That said, I am so tired of a two party system --- especially when both side don't always represent the general public after they are elected -- and to add to that, the Electoral College, right alone with the so called Super Delegates, both are a slap in every American's face. Our country is so screwed up when it comes to voting, someone needs to come over here and teach us something about Democracy --- because I haven't seem too much of it in my lifetime.
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