No, The Polls "Weren't" Wrong - the Pundits Were

Details: Created: Wednesday, 09 November 2016 13:30; Published: Wednesday, 09 November 2016 13:30; Written by Ax D. WhiteMan

As election results came in, talking heads yammered in unison, "the polls were completely wrong."

But they weren't.

As we pointed out here in late August, an objective reading of the polls (with 10 weeks remaining) was that the election outcome was hovering around the margin of error. Yet, pundit after pundit, on both sides, were sprinting to the closest available microphone to declare "It's Over" for Trump. We were not gifted with some special insight. There was simply NO WAY the empirical data showed anything but a very competitive race.

Again on October 13, in response to the Weekly Standards pseudo-intellectual Nathan Last article declaring the race over, we pointed out once again - that the data simply did not support that conclusion.

As the final polls were published yesterday, the average of the polls as aggregated by RCP showed the race in a virtual dead heat - both in popular and electoral vote. I posted and tweeted the final electoral map pictured above - and was promptly labeled a #TrumpTard.

That is essentially how the pundit class treated anyone attempting to make an objective analysis of polling data that showed a very close race; and perhaps more importantly showed a consistent trend in Trumps favor for the final two weeks.

Last night was surprise to most, but not because of incorrect polls - because they refused to read them without the bias of their own prejudice.