On Elections, Polls, Cheerleading

[Annie]

Seems Germany has the same 'polling' problems that the US did. Remember when Kerry was 'ahead'? Or when the Dems were trying to activate their base? No bias, no how, no way!

http://medienkritik.typepad.com/blog/2005/05/what_was_that_a.html

SPIEGEL ONLINE: What Was That About a "Photo Finish"?
(By Ray D.)

Just a day before voters went to the polls, SPIEGEL ONLINE bravely predicted a miracle "photo finish" in the North-Rhine/Westphalia elections. According to experts known only to Germany's most-quoted news magazine, the CDU's lead in the polls was "rapidly melting away" in the final days before the election. In an article entitled "NRW Election: Swing or Blues?", author Hajo Schumacher wrote of a furious last-minute SPD comeback:

"Election researchers are observing an odd phenomenon: For three days the distance between the SPD and the thought-to-be certain winner CDU has rapidly shrunk. In the opinion of experts it will come down to a photo finish."

Well, so much for that "odd phenomena." The CDU blew away the SPD by nearly eight percentage points, placing far better than most experts expected. This election wasn't a photo finish, it was a head-ringing knockout for the entire SPD. So dramatic was the loss that the Chancellor has decided to call for early elections. It seems the only thing rapidly shrinking now is SPIEGEL ONLINE's credibility and possibly also its readership.

Of course we don't want to accuse the fair and balanced people at SPIEGEL ONLINE of being SPD election cheerleaders. But reporting on a phony SPD comeback that existed only in a few peoples' imaginations certainly won't help the publication shake the appearance of being firmly biased to the left. And passages like this from Mr. Schumacher's article certainly won't improve the site's reputation either:

Lots more...