Letters to the Editor
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Polling -- Josh Marshall
I've read a lot of reader emails tonight. And there's one line I've heard a fair amount of that I'd like to take some gentle exception to. A lot of people say that the pollsters and pundits have something to answer for or that they tried to put this away for Obama or close the book on Hillary. The character of reporting is another matter. But polls are usually right. Not always and not exactly. But by and large they have a very good record. It's silly to think that we -- whether 'we' is reporters or political junkies or ordinary voters -- are going to ignore the information that's right in front of us. And why should we?
It's true I guess that in an abstracted reality we could simply listen to the candidates, ignore all probabilistic data available, go to the polls with no idea of the result and learn the outcome the following morning. But that's not the world we live in nor do I think it's one I'd want to live in.--Josh Marshall
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