Could I vent a bit?
Understanding that with so few posts I may not have earned this right yet, but with the speed of everything that has happened the past few days, my head is spinning. The spinning, I think, has been fueled mostly by the trillion polls that seem to come out every freaking day.
My problem with this endless string of tracking polls, rolling averages and wildly varying swing-state numbers, is that there seems to be zero room to take a step back and attempt putting it all in some sort of perspective. I am as weak as anyone on this - when I see the word "poll" in the subject line, it draws me in like some sort of psychotic magnet. There's one with good news, one with not-so good news, one with great news and one suggesting that the sky is ready to fall.
The debate was what it was: not a complete disaster, but not good.
The jobs report was what it was: Good news, but not stupendous news.
The Romney is a habitual liar story has started percolating, which could be stupendous news - if allowed to simmer for at least a few more news cycles.
What I can't wrap my head around is that the polls are popping up fast and furious, so fast that it is impossible for me to compute what polls are being influenced by what event. Then there is the ongoing struggle to weed out all the different polling methods, the calculations on party IDs, the bias that some have and some don't.
Then there are the endless blogs and tweets, all of which are throwing as much crap against the wall as they can, so much that it becomes difficult to figure out what's sticking and what isn't.
Not sure what my point is here, except to say that sometimes my head feels like exploding.
My hope is that election night will be such a rush that all the angst will be worth it.
End of rant.
Thanks to anyone who managed to get through the whole thing.
= new reply since forum marked as read
As you can see, I have a low number of posts. But that's only because I lurked for a very long time. I was hanging in this place at least back in 2004 and saw a lot of crying and hand wringing over that debacle. After that election I vowed never to go near politics again and went into a funk that lasted for days. I was really despondent. But the thing is, you really do need to try to grab hold of yourself when you start feeling that way. Just remember as bad a it was during the BUSH years, we did get through it. Not unscathed, mind you, but we are here today to commiserate and compare notes.
I think I had registered a while back, after years of lurking and then decided that posting might be fun. Oh and a place to VENT! Yes!!! AT last a place where I can say what I think (well, with a little editing to avoid getting scorched pants). I live in a VERY, VERY conservative part of Northwest Florida. Home of Naval Aviation.....And there are lots and lots of really far right people living here. Yes, there are Lefties, too, but we are far out numbered by the Righties. So it's easy to start feeling alone and isolated. My husband and I agree almost 100 % on politics (not so much on religious matters) and so he will listen to me for a while. And then he gets tired of it.
I can come here, rant, rave or cheer and almost always find a like mind or someone who knows where I am coming from. Somebody will talk me off the ceiling when I have a bad day. There is a ton of good information here, too. And some crack pots. But that is what makes it interesting. You can figure out who the crack pots are after a while.
As for the polls...first, you have to pick some that are reliable and you don't need 12 or 15. Just a few good reliable ones that have a TRACK RECORD of success. And you can lay off checking them every day unless you are just Obsessive/compulsive. Then it's very hard. But try to limit yourself. It is unlikely that there will be WILD swings over a day or two or even three. I have said to my husband that Obama would have had to have pulled down his pants, mooned the audience and then farted in our faces to make a major impact on dropping his numbers Wednesday night. I was pretty sure he was going to avoid that if he could.
