Tuesday, January 19, 2010

MA Race Is At the Post

All eyes are on Massachusetts today as a referendum on Obama and the heavy-handed Democratic congress. There is no other way to interpret it. This isn't a microcosm event about two personalities competing in a small state. This is macro-politics on an unprecedented scale. It's David and Goliath in a hostile venue for the good guy. Fingers are crossed, deities are petitioned, genies with three wishes are sought and the networks are going to be saturating us with hyperbole, predictions, premature conclusions and nonsense.

This may be the most telling chart I've seen:

The Brown-Coakley Race Over Time

Some things to note there beyond simply the right hand column of preference outcomes include the sources of the polls. A few are clearly identified with (R) and (D) so you could expect a bit of bias and spin. Some are very well respected with a track record of remarkable accuracy such as Rasmussen.

But for me the most telling data is the date column of the polls. Note that last September the Democrat was ahead by 30 points. The last two days the Republican is showing 9 and 10 points ahead. That is a forty point swing in 120 days.

That swing isn't caused by a scandal over a candidate. No indictments have been revealed. No affairs of the heart have been disclosed. No airport men's room indiscretions have been revealed. What has happened?

Might it be the rough-shod trampling of political process in which the people have been ignored, the minority party has been shut out and the anti-capitalist agenda of the left has been imposed?

It could be.

2 comments:

MagiK said...

YES!!! There is hope, if a non-Dem can win in Mass. then Ca. NY need to be on their toes too.

Im not overly thrilled with the Republican Party, they have cheated us and let us down their fair share in the last 16 years too. But I think we have seen that the Dem Party really needs to be ousted lest we lose the whole meaning of the United States.

juvat said...

Brown wins!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!