Tuesday, November 02, 2004
Exit Poll Explanation
Does anyone really put any credence in these "early exit polls"?
No official exit poll data has been released, and even if poll numbers are accurate, they probably come from areas where a particular candidate is known to be very strong. For example, does anyone think Bush will pull the Miami area? If you want to show that Kerry will take Florida big, all you have to do is "unofficially" poll some voters in that area.
This is why the "official" exit poll data is processed and averaged across a state, instead of "leaked" onto the internet as raw data comes in.
Don't expect the above facts to slow down Dan Rather tonight, though.
No official exit poll data has been released, and even if poll numbers are accurate, they probably come from areas where a particular candidate is known to be very strong. For example, does anyone think Bush will pull the Miami area? If you want to show that Kerry will take Florida big, all you have to do is "unofficially" poll some voters in that area.
This is why the "official" exit poll data is processed and averaged across a state, instead of "leaked" onto the internet as raw data comes in.
Don't expect the above facts to slow down Dan Rather tonight, though.
// posted by Jamie @ 11/02/2004 05:09:00 PM 
