Legal Commentary

The Beltway "Political Pros" Can't Read Polls

By Big Tent Democrat

Last night on Hardball:

[CHRIS] MATTHEWS: Howard, is it possible that the actions of the progressive wing of the Democratic Party here will end up being counterproductive, that knocking her down, bringing her down below 50, making her fight for that runoff just weakens her for the general; she loses the general; they never come back in that state for years to come?

FINEMAN: I think it‘s quite possible, Chris. And I think they—they want to make a lesson. They want to teach somebody a lesson. I‘m not sure this is the right person or the right place to do it, because she was probably their best chance, the Democrats‘ best chance, of holding on to that seat there.

[. . . CHRIS] MATTHEWS: Great reporting there. Thank you, Howard Fineman

Heh. Great reporting, my foot. An actual reporter would have taken the time to look at Lincoln's actual polling numbers and would have discovered that Lincoln has been a dead duck for many months now and that in fact Bill Halter has consistently polled better in the General Election than Lincoln. The Pollster.com summary tells the story. (See also this, this, this, and this.) But that's the great Beltway "reporting" you can expect.

Full post as published by TalkLeft on May 14, 2010 (boomark / email).