"They just have to get it close enough to steal...." - how do we know

[BR_Parkway]

really know that it's that close?

We always hear that it's got to be close enough for them to steal, yet there seems to be a disconnect between what most of us experience as reality and what the polls show.

Part of it's messaging and even how the question is asked as far as the results go.. but when you talk to people, even those slightly to the left of the average Teabagger, they tend to be for the things that most of us would agree on - like upping the tax rate on the monied class before cutting benefits for Social Security.

A new poll gets released, the talking heads on TV dutifully report it - occasionally with "shock" at the results. The print press writes it up, the opinion writers bleed more ink in explaining why it's not shocking or what candidate/politician should take away from the results.... You know the routine, in short time it sinks into the common wisdom and is fairly accepted by most folks as accurate.

But after seeing the game playing from things like S&P in fairly blatant ways the enrich them and tend to push their political leanings - why is there not more question about the accuracy/integrity of the pollsters (beyond the known bias that slips through with places like Rasmussen)?

It's a bit like that joke my mom used to make when different commercials used to come on - "9 out of 10 dentists recommended XXXX" - can also mean 9 out of 100 dentists recommended it, we're just not going to tell you about the other 90 who said it was crap.

[liberal N proud]

1. And they know how to steal elections

[teddy51]

2. Funny enough, but I don't even think they care if you know that they are stealing

the election anymore. Those on the Right have become so in your face now (as a minority I might add) that they don't give a rats ass if we on the Left know they are stealing the election. They simply say, "What are you going to do about it, anyway"?

[applegrove]

3. They stole the 2004 election by releasing faulty exit polls early afternoon on election day,

giving Kerry the win, and keeping democrats, who more often vote at night that republicans, home from voting because they thought Kerry had already won. Nowadays the exit polls are not published until well after polls have closed so this cannot happen again. But be wary. The GOP know that the Presidential elections are close and they work in small % with their voter ids, intimidation, etc.