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If
nothing else, this is the first election cycle ever where the
ubiquitous phony media poll results have been questioned so
broadly.
Karl Rove's remembrance is my best example, because I remember the
Reagan Carter fraud so well.
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I've seen a movie like this one before. I was in
my 20s and director of the Texas Victory Committee for Reagan-Bush. Our
headquarters was in an old mortuary in Austin. That seemed an
appropriate venue when, on Oct. 8, 1980, the New York Times released
its poll on the presidential race in Texas, one of 10 battlegrounds.
(Yes, the Lone Star State was then a battleground.)
According to the Times, the contest was "a virtual dead heat," with
President Jimmy Carter ahead despite earlier surveys showing Ronald
Reagan winning. A large Hispanic turnout for Mr. Carter—and the fact
that Texas was "far more Democratic than the nation" (only 16% of
Texans identified themselves as Republicans then)—meant that Mr. Reagan
"must do better among independents" to carry the state. Our hurriedly
called strategy session at the mortuary had more than the normal
complement of hand-wringers.
Then came more hard punches. On Oct. 13, Gallup put the race nationally
at Carter 44%, Reagan 40%. The bottom appeared to fall out two weeks
later when a new national Gallup poll had Carter 47%, Reagan 39%.
[
Can We Believe the Presidential Polls? ]
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I'll never forget when, back in the wonderful 70's (the
worst decade in American history), the FCC issued a cease and desist against a floor
wax commercial—because it falsely depicted a woman gliding over her
kitchen floor, genie like, after using it. Evidently there had
been complaints from disappointed consumers when they didn't
levitate. If the government can have dominion over fantasy,
it can certainly find a way to stop media from using these polls
to create false news to sway an electorate into supporting an
ideology. |
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