The effect of the first debate is "kicking in"

[wadestock]

http://www.electoral-vote.com/

News from the Votemaster

John Edwards won the vice-presidential debate 41% to 28% among uncommitted voters according to a CBS poll. An online poll conducted by MSNBC makes the margin of Edwards victory even larger: 67% to 33%. While the MSNBC poll was not a scientific poll, it did have 885,000 responses, so it was a very large poll of Internet users.

The effect of the first presidential debate is starting to kick in. Kerry is surging and Bush is dropping. Kerry has retaken the lead in all-important Ohio by 49% to 48%, New Mexico by 46% to 43%, and Iowa by 48% to 47%. While all of these are within the margin of error, previous polls had Bush ahead in these states by more than the margin of error. Clearly the forward motion Kerry has been experiencing in the national polls this week is starting to show up in the state polls as well. On the other hand, Bush has taken the lead in Pennsylvania by a margin of 48% to 47%.

I got tons of mail about averaging. The response is overwhelmingly against averaging. When I wasn't doing it, many people said I should do it. Now that I am doing it, many people say I shouldn't. If I may paraphrase a famous Republican, "You can please some of the people all of the time and you can please all of the people some of the time but you can't please all the people all the time." I dropped the averaging and went back to the old scheme of listing the most recent poll. If two polls have the same middle date, the shorter one wins. If two (or more) polls have exactly the same polling interval, they are averaged.

Many teachers have sent me mail telling me how they use the site to discuss the election in their classes. There is material for history classes (why is there an electoral college?), geography (why are some states red and some states blue?), math (how can you predict a whole state by asking 800 people?) and more. If you are a teacher looking for more material about the election to use in your classes, take a look at the Lesson Plans Page.

[glarius]

1. Can't wait to see Kerry obliterate him again on Friday!

This smirking, strutting little rooster is anything but "presidential." He seems to have forgotten already how pathetically he was revealed as the moronic simpleton he is......

[lancdem]

2. This surge is just beginning!

:)

[MatrixEscape]

3. Will this be a spin lesson?

It is becoming crystal clear that once past the spin doctors and the hype and media control you get a different result.

The tactic of repetitive phrases only works on the gullible. The idea that, if you repeat something enough it becomes true, makes others stand up and take note. One thing I noted was the bag of stock phrases that everyone in the Bushco team has repeated endlessly. That is Orwellian.

I have been adamant for a long while that the lies have been supported by the media. That's a journalistic fault and failure. Or is it just pure collusion?

Once you get it out in the open, (thank goodness for the debates) the mask comes off very easily. I mean, now, it is like seeing the Promised land when before, it was a trip through Hades.

America has to learn a big lesson here. Overt, concerted media manipulation is not conducive to a free society. Stock phrases may sell some products, but they are out of place as a replacement for truth, facts, and informing a society politically.

This is more than a political struggle in a Presidential campaign. This is now becoming a potential first victory in an information war!

[wadestock]

4. These people represent "bad business"

It is in their nature to lie. The bad business component of this is showing itself as a generic means to exploit people.

This bad business is second nature in the business world now. Do you see real "honesty" in your work environment? No...these people have generally made a science of lying to people to keep them content and to exploit them.

We now simply have this on a grand experimental stage in American politics. The media, through control...and general willingness to be part of this "bad business"....is bringing it along....and people in general are so F'n dumb they tend to think this really is the way to go in the business world.

Why SHOULD business have to pay for my health care. Why should they have to invest in me as a valid human resource? ...when all they're about is making profits?