Talk Back: Reactions to the VP Debate
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| Thu, 10-02-2008 - 5:14pm |
Hi everyone --
We wanted to get your reaction to the Vice Presidential debate between Senator Joe Biden and Governor Sarah Palin. Did you watch? What did you think -- and who do you consider the winner? Were there any surprises? Tell us what you considered to be the highlights, the low points and everything in between.
Please note: This discussion will be featured on our homepage as well as our Election 2008 feature page (http://www.ivillage.com/0,,dkrjhqbk,00.html) and may elicit some "Guest" responses from our "Talkback" box tool on the page. Inappropriate responses that violate our Terms of Service will be removed.
Thanks for your input!
Caryn Stein
Director of Community
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That's hilarious: I said, in response to another poster, that Obama was probably trying to lock down early and absentee votes now, because the other side (McCain) was "tanking."
You reply with "mmmm....not really," and a detailed link to a poll from CBS/NYT. So....you "don't listen to polls," but you use them to support your arguments? OK, I guess....seems like a strange order of priorities, though: polls aren't important enough for you to lend any credence to....but they ARE important enough to stand as a refutation of someone's argument with whom you're debating? I dunno....I tend to use things I actually believe in - believe to be true - as my arguments in a debate. But whatever works for you, I guess.
However, as I've already demonstrated and linked to, that CBS/NYT poll is only one of more than half a dozen major national polls all released either today or yesterday, and it is the ONLY one which shows the race that tight. If you want to use this poll (which you don't believe in) as support for the argument that McCain/Palin is NOT tanking lately, wouldn't you think that a chart of ALL polls, showing that the one you cherry-picked is the ONLY one which has the race that close would be decent refutation of that? Especially since most of those other polls ALSO measure "likely voters," just as the CBS/NYT one you used does? In fact - heck - you can go back to the graph I posted and check - because it lists it right there, on the right side - which ones are "registered voters" and which are "likely voters." Go on, I'll wait.....hum de do de dum.......OK, are you back? Great. And what did you discover? That only Gallup and NBC/WSJ are polling "registered voters" and the others, including yours, all poll "likely voters?"
Hmmm....kinda shoots holes in THAT argument of yours, too, don't it?
Honestly, though - bottom line? If you truly "could care less what polls say," then why post one as a "refutation" of someone else's statement.....without even doing the homework to see whether it even agrees with all the other major polls out there?
Always want to post these to keep you from getting to far out in wish land, and it includes the CBS one you quoted.
RealClearPolitics Poll Averages
General Election: McCain vs. Obama
Poll
Date
Sample
Obama (D)
McCain (R)
Spread
RCP Average
10/01 - 10/06
--
49.4
44.1
Obama +5.3
Rasmussen Tracking
10/04 - 10/06
3000 LV
52
44
Obama +8
Hotline/FD Tracking
10/04 - 10/06
908 LV
46
44
Obama +2
Reuters/CSpan/Zogby Tracking
10/04 - 10/06
1237 LV
48
45
Obama +3
NBC News/Wall St. Jrnl
10/04 - 10/05
658 RV
49
43
Obama +6
CBS News
10/03 - 10/05
616 LV
48
45
Obama +3
CNN
10/03 - 10/05
694 LV
53
45
Obama +8
Gallup Tracking
10/03 - 10/05
2744 RV
50
42
Obama +8
GW/Battleground Tracking
10/01 - 10/06
800 LV
50
43
Obama +7
Democracy Corps (D)
10/01 - 10/05
1000 LV
49
46
Obama +3
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