Wednesday 10 October 2012

Where Did That Red Come From?

If there's one thing a decade of statistics should have taught me, it's not to put too much faith in polls.  And if I hadn't learned that by the last general election, the hideous beating the Liberal Democrats took (which admittedly will feel like a classy blow-job compared to what's coming next time around) would have sorted me out.

So I refuse to get too downcast by the image below, even if snatching defeat from the jaws of victory is pretty much the second most common Democratic move in the book, after selling out the working class.



All that said, it's going to be a long four weeks.

8 comments:

Chris said...

It looks like it came from the blue.

SpaceSquid said...

Oh, yeah. It's obvious now you point it out.

Chris said...

Don't feel too embarrased, you're just used to living in a system where the answer is always, "its come from the yellow".

SpaceSquid said...

Ooh, burn! Take that, Nick Clegg.

Plus, obviously, us.

Tomsk said...

I suspect this is a blip caused by the general amazement that Romney is capable of being more than a walking gaffe machine. At least, I hope so. I still think he blew it by over-pandering to the tea party types.

SpaceSquid said...

You mean in general, I take it, rather than during the debate itself.

Tomsk said...

Yes, I gather he's trying to appear more centrist now but I think it's too late to cement that impression.

SpaceSquid said...

One would hope, though the crazy nature of polls over the last few days suggests a great deal of instability, which is worrying (that said, the swing states still seem at least somewhat safe).

I think you're right that if one were to pick a single reason for Romney's failures, it was all the red meat he's thrown to the Tea Party. That said, I think the true problem is a step or two before that; he wouldn't have had to pacify the TP to the extent he did were he not so widely mistrusted in conservative circles.

Romney's made plenty of unforced errors, and ludicrously he might still win, but the trouble he's had balancing conservative pandering with centrist leanings was a built-in factor from the day he started running.