How they fool you: Rasmussen says it 48-46 Bush; it's really 47.6-46.2

[TruthIsAll]

I guess 2% sounds a lot better than 1.4%.

Maybe I'm nitpicking...

Anyway, Kerry has rebounded, according to this Republican pollster.

http://www.rasmussenreports.com/Presidential_Tracking_Poll.htm

I like to use one or two decimal places, as appropriate. This way we can better track a polling trend and also more accurately compare election models.

http://www.geocities.com/electionmodel/

[fishface]

1. A 2 point reversal for Bush..going DOWN...

Plus a 2 point uptick for Kerry..that's a 4 POINT SWING!

hehehe...NOW will everyone calm down?

[still_one]

2. There really isn't a practical difference

let me guess, when you buy gas and it say 1.99 9/10 per gal, do you think 1.99 or two bucks?

[TruthIsAll]

3. There is actually a real difference between a 1% and 2% margin

Especially when the Margin of Error is only 3%.

But I'm a purist...

[Frodo]

6. "A purist"?

A purist who rounds 1.4% down to 1%, but won't round 46.2% to 46% or 47.6% to 48%?

It doesn't matter. Reporting a poll with implied accuracy to the tenths of a percent is ridiculous.

[VolcanoJen]

4. I love your poll threads, TruthIsAll!

Thanks for always breaking it down for us. :D

[PROGRESSIVE1]

5. With the margin of error, I see this as "nitpicking". Nothing against...

you personally but every poll will show a slightly different result. Bush's 2 point "rounded" lead is still in the margin of error which is very good for JK at this point.

[Shopaholic]

7. On GMA this morning though. . .

they didn't mention this poll. Instead, they highlighted the Newsweek & Time polls showing * with a huge lead. :crazy:

[Zynx]

8. Fuck them. Those polls are crap.

If they poll a lot more Republicans than Democrats I would certainly expect Bush to be ahead.

[underpants]

9. NBC-Lauer and Scarborough were having a laughfest

Lauer:Coming out of the Dem Convention when Kerry didn't get a bounce the Democrats were saying that that was because there was no bounce to have with independent voters (smiles) but now there really is a bounce with independents AND Dems who are going to vote for Bush apparently.

Banjo boy:Yes many Democrats that I have talked to are very upset about the way the Kerry campaign has been handling things. This 11 point lead for Bush isn't going to make them very happy.

Lauer: Yes this 11 point lead for Bush shows that apparently (eyes get real big) there ARE a lot of people who saw Bush's message and liked it.

Banjo boy:I have talked to many Democrats who say that they are going to vote for Bush-even though they don't like him much-because they see that he is the man for the job.

Lauer:The Republican convention seemed to be as much about Kerry as it was about Bush which I have to say was much like the Democratic convention was more about Bush than Kerry....

Banjo:I think people are seeing that Kerry really isn't up for the job as this 11 point lead shows

Lauer: Now about your book.......

[Zynx]

10. We'll have the last laugh on that.

[vickie]

11. According to the NY Daily News, even team Shrub knows the

so-called 11 point lead is a joke...

Bushies don't buy 11-pt. lead



BY KENNETH R. BAZINET
DAILY NEWS WASHINGTON BUREAU


President Bush holds Ian Sears, 19 months, at rally yesterday in Parkersburg, W.Va., in his 14th trip to the key battleground state as President.

PARKERSBURG, W.Va. - Voters should not place much stock in President Bush's newfound double-digit lead over John Kerry.
Or so says Team Bush.

Time and Newsweek showed the President with an 11-point lead over the weekend but both Bush campaign manager Ken Mehlman and White House strategist Karl Rove have signaled doubts and are awaiting new polls in the days to come.

"We'll know where the head-to-head stands when we get some data back," Mehlman told reporters traveling yesterday with the President.

Former Mayor Rudy Giuliani believes the Bush bounce predated last week's GOP convention - most likely the result of attacks from Vietnam vets who have questioned Kerry's war heroics.

The Kerry camp agrees it had a lousy August but predicts a comeback in the polls.

Political experts believe Team Bush is rushing to lower expectations, worried that if the horse race does indeed even up, it will then look as if it is the President who is in trouble.

"They'll be nervous when it tightens," said University of Massachusetts pollster Lou DiNatale. "Remember, Dukakis was up 19 points in 1988 after his convention, but then went on to lose to Bush's father. This isn't over."

[yankeedem]

12. If there were a liberal media

We could spin it "Bush blip steadily eroding, Kerry gaining momentum".