Poll Position

Howard Fineman, in your panicked attempt to rescue the legitimacy of the Newsweek poll, your total lack of journalistic integrity shines through once again. It is obvious to everyone not employed by Newsweek (with the exception of Mr. Rove, of course) that it is VERY bad sign indeed that Obama did not experience a huge bump in the polls following Sen. Clinton's suspension. And now 3 weeks later he's still practically tied with McCain? You should be shaking in your boots. All signs point to a loss for Obama and the DNC apparatus in November. You may as well start writing that book about how Obama lost and why the Democrats should have nominated Sen. Clinton. That way you can publish it the day after the November election. PUMA!

I just hope we dont makes the same mistake in selecting the correct president ,We Americans having a habit to select a president thats popular democracies dont always throw up the best leader,because the electrol process focuses on who is the best persuader rather then the best leader,The most important aspect of good government is having able men in charge that's difficult when you have popular elections as a candidate is not judge by his ability to govern but by his persuasive power.

Ummm. The latest Gallup tracking poll, which has a FAR better reputation for accuracy than Newsweek, shows McCain and Obama tied. The latest Rasmussen tracking poll shows Obama only 4 points ahead. These are the two polls that are really worth watching, since they are conducted by professionals and not by biased organizations like Newsweek with a political agenda of their own.

Well, Howard, since you're apparently a neophyte when it comes to polling let me explain it to you. Your Newsweek poll of "adults" isn't worth the trouble that it takes to read it. You'd get a better read from pulling petals off of flowers. As those brighter than you (a larger group than you may realize) know, Democrats always poll better than Republicans among "adults". That's because "adults" and "registered voters" include the disturbingly large group that either isn't paying attention or doesn't have the ability to filter out all of the crap that Democrats (yes, Howard, your party the Democrats) and their fellow-traveling media types put out. If you ever have a few spare minutes and want to do something useful for the country, ask your bosses why they continue to spend money on the same wildly inaccurate polls that Newsweek has published for decades. A point of historical interest: In 1984, the final Newsweek poll showed Mondale beating Reagan. The final toll of states in that one was Reagan 49, Mondale 1.

Of course he does'nt! Remember this is the same magazine that predicted that Walter Mondale would beat Ronald Regan! Newsweek is a liberal magazine and so is the LA Times. The latest Gallup poll shows them tied! This is just the media's attempt to brain wash people with this proprganda garbage. Better luck next time.

These people doesnt have any clue what's economy all about.What's the feeling of American when we have to BORROW money even to buy ourselves Oil ,not to mention Borrowing for War? Our US dollar now at the lowest compares other country,we only values about 7 china remmibi to a dollar going futher depreciates coming months.7 remmibi what can you buy in CHINA? not even short public Bus fare ride if you travelling in china.

The fact that Newsweek and LA Times sampled 16% more Democrats than Republicans should tell you why there is such a disparity with the other daily tracking polls which have a more balanced and representative sampling pool.

Polls are a tricky thing, and while I don???t believe for a minute that any polling agency would fake the numbers, there are obvious ways to skew the results. Any scientist knows that research data is only accurate if it is representative of the greater population at large i.e. the bell curve concept. If the sample is skewed in one direction or the other, the results become meaningless in trying to predict what will happen in the general population.

I don???t know if it was deliberate or not, but one really needs to question the tactics and results of polls such as Newsweek and LA Times that have a disproportionate number of Democrats.

The fact that Newsweek and LA Times sampled 16% more Democrats than Republicans should tell you why there is such a disparity with the other daily tracking polls which have a more balanced and representative sampling pool.

Polls are a tricky thing, and while I don???t believe for a minute that any polling agency would fake the numbers, there are obvious ways to skew the results. Any scientist knows that research data is only accurate if it is representative of the greater population at large i.e. the bell curve concept. If the sample is skewed in one direction or the other, the results become meaningless in trying to predict what will happen in the general population.

I don???t know if it was deliberate or not, but one really needs to question the tactics and results of polls such as Newsweek and LA Times that have a disproportionate number of Democrats.

Looks like someone likes the Bush years and the mess he has gotten this country in. Why would anyone want anymore of the same.

I would be concerned with the Newsweek poll if it was accurate, however, as it is showing a 12 point lead in Obama's favor, it indicates to me that once again your publication is biased towards him and are trying to manipulate not only the polling numbers but the American public as well. As it stands, I'll wait until November when the numbers really matter.

Fineman is Journalist he writes to what the MAJORITY wants to read and to hears. He's not wrong telling what's going on the ground.why yelling at him?

I will give you credit--you did mention Mondale's 18 point lead at one point. However, you failed to mention Dukakis's 17 point lead and Kerry's 19 point lead (or was it 19 and 17 respectively). In short, for a Democrat to be this much ahead at this point actually predicts a Republican victory in the Fall!!! The only exception to this was Carter's 30 point lead which was reduced to 3 points by election day. No wonder you people were so concerned about what happened to Baghdad Bob, you have a lot in common.