Posted on 11/05/2012 9:19:17 AM PST by SeekAndFind
In baseball you have hard statistics, based on a player's past performance. If the statistics state that a player reached base 30% of at bats, that's what it is. It's not 30% with a margin of error of 3%, or 30% when the model uses 41% Red Sox fans vs. 30% Rangers fans. It's 30%, period.
Polling, on the other hand, always has a margin of error, and depends heavily on the models used in the particular polls being evaluated.
In short, there is significantly more variability and vagary in the input data for political mathematical prognostication than in prognostication in baseball.
If it were that straightforward, and like calculating loads on a bridge, they could just come up with the equivalent of Turbo Tax that would automatically input the polling data from each organization and spit out the likely winner. No need for commentators or prognosticators - just the ‘Turbo Election’ program.
It's not that simple.
I got a little shaken up by the info I was reading too when I deliberately stepped out of my perspectival ‘bubble’ for a bitbut it did give me better understanding of why Obama is up so much on Intrade and what not.
Does he get to keep his "guru" status when he is proven to be oh so wrong?
In poker, when you’re gonna lose your ass anyway, might as well go “all in”.
They keep Krugman and Dowd around, don't they?
Here’s my take on these polls.
We’re looking at human nature at work: 2008 obama voters don’t want to admit obama is the wrong choice to pollsters, because that means the voters were wrong and who wants to admit that? And so we don’t see the huge decline of obama in the polls. However, that’s going to change tomorrow in the voting booth where there are no pollsters. It’ll then be a choice not about saving face but of voting between obama and Romney.
Best thing to do to convince a fence sitter to vote for Romney is to simply say: “It’s okay to vote for Romney, he’ll be a good president.” And don’t even get into obama’s record.
Bookmarked, for a session of hooting laughter on Wednesday morning (Working the polls tomorrow, pub thereafter).
I think you got your analysis backwards I think- they are trying to attract more money to the Romney side by offering a higher payoff
which means there is a lot of money on Obama’s side- but Intrade is not allowed to trade in USA and overseas they are excited about an obama 2nd term - they love hime way more than we do
Now it’s up to 92.2 percent. This is just getting sad.
How was your followup reading session?
No hooting laughter, that's for sure. Don'tcha hate it when the "bad guys" are right?
Now I have to get me a gub'mint job, to break the regime from the inside! < /sarc >
Oh, and to add insult to injury, the pub lost power and was closed by the time we finished election duty! A beer at home just ain’t the same!
Now that hurts.
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