dKos on freaking out about polls: For those about to commit suicide:

[iconoclastic cat]

From Daily Kos, a guest rant by the unsinkable Chris Bowers:

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A diary for those about to commit suicide

by Chris Bowers
Wed Aug 25th, 2004 at 23:36:23 EDT

Sweet merciful crap. Reading the thread about the latest LA Times poll, I thought it was November 6, 2002 around here all over again (or January 20, 2004). And to think that just two days ago a post-SBL Zogby poll showed Kerry leading in 14 out the 16 closest states. To think that within the last week, two polls have shown the race tied--in Colorado after the SBVfT. To think that a post SBVfT Economist poll today showed Bush with an approval rating double-digits in the red, and direction of the country numbers more than twenty points in the red. To think that even Real Clear Politics shows Kerry up by 3.4--and they use the LV models that are consistently pro-Bush whenever possible.

Listen up you soup-spined, knee-knocking numbnuts: no matter how much you seem to enjoy panicking, Bush's poll numbers suck, and it is time for you to learn to deal with it. The LA Times is definitely not a pro-Dem poll. In fact, their job approval ratings for Bush, both national and statewide, are easily the most pro-GOP of any other outfit. Hell, in July, they had Bush at 56/40 approve / disapprove in Florida. Even in the June poll that supposedly was biased toward Kerry, Bush's approval rating was 51/47 pre-Reagan, the second highest he had the entire month of June.

(snip)

If not being down by more than the MoE in any poll for two months isn't good enough for you, if Bush basically never, ever reaching 50 either nationally or in the 21 closest states isn't good enough for you, if the well-documented fact that undecided usually break overwhelmingly for the challenger isn't enough for you, I suggest you stop paying close attention to polls and politics. If you can only avoid panicking when a poll shows Kerry up by more than the MoE in August (which actually indicates that the race is going to be a Kerry blowout), then I don't think you have the guts to be a political junkie, much less an activist. Kerry remains in an extremely solid position, and in less than two weeks SBVfT will be long forgotten.

(much, much, more) (also, I left out some embedded links)
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on edit: paragraph 3 added

[revree]

1. RIGHT ON!

HAVE A SPINE, PEOPLE!!!

[Nickster]

2. KERRY IN A LANDSLIDE! n/t

[AFSCME girl]

3. This is great!

thanks iconoclastic cat! :bounce:

[RobertSeattle]

4. I've heard the RW propose this is actually a liberal conspiracy

Their thinking:
Make look Bush look good right before the convention so when there is little or no "bump" then it makes Bush look bad.

[iconoclastic cat]

5. You must be kidding me! That's bloody hilarious.

Please, please tell me you have a link!

[RobertSeattle]

7. Heard it on RW Radio

Since it is right wing religon to despise anything out of the LA Times, even if it "pro Bush", they have to come up with evil intent behind it.

[Dogmudgeon]

6. People fret too much over polls

They're like standardized tests for fids -- diagnostic but not much better than that.

Besides, in any campaign, things get better, then things get worse. Then things get better again. This might sound like crackerbarrel philosophy, but a lot of people forget it. There's still nine weeks left in the campaign, and a lot can happen in that time.

I have no doubt that Bush will enjoy quite a nice bump from the Publican Cornonation. Then something will come around to knock him off his perch. The SwiftLiars' scandal has already gotten a large number of vets wondering whether they shouldn't replace their "Hanoi Jane" bumper stickers with "Swift Boat Liars" bumper stickers.

Nine weeks remain. All of September and all of October. This is no time to slacken off from fatigue. We can win -- in a landslide!

--bkl

[John_H]

8. LOL! Great piece! Kick.

[WI_DEM]

9. There are two types

people who fret too much over polls which, as you mention, show the race really to be dead even. And people who think everything is going well in a campaign and any bit of bad news just must be wrong. Then there is the middle ground, people who know that the polls this early are meaningless and that Bush probably will be leading by even more after his convention but that things will tighten up after that again and that while yes, the campaign is going relatively well for a non-incumbent that we should be doing more to emphasize the issues, especially Iraq, where Bush is vulnerable.

[iconoclastic cat]

10. Sure, and many points in between.

But complacency (and torpor) is what got us in this fine mess to begin with, don't you think?

[peacetalksforall]

11. Call it like it is - you are watching "ASSISTED POLLS" or call them

"PARTNERSHIP POLLS". It is extremely important to them and they will LIE WITH STATISTICS or just plain outright LIE.

The only thing to be worried about are a few swing voters. Their phoney polls are perfectly timed to coincide with the Vietnam stuff - they want a double whammy and something for the corporate network propagandists to talk about to ease out of the Vietnam corrupted lies. They don't want to admit to their cross involvement. They are going to ease out of it without any more publicity about Ginsberg, Godier, and other veterans stepping forward for Kerry.

Letters to the Editor may be the most effective right now with information like the Nixon-Kerry clearing of the air.