More Phony Polls

Karl Rove: Can We Believe the Presidential Polls? Last week's CBS/New York Times poll had Obama ahead by nine points in Florida. That's not very likely. “ 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. 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? ] 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.  ”