FiveThirtyHate: Meet The Trump Movement's Post-Truth, Post-Math Anti-Nate Silver

BuzzFeed News ^ | October 18, 2016 | Charlie Warzel

[poconopundit]

In self-reliant/conservative media circles, we know that Rush is the king of Radio monologues and Hannity owns Television interviews.  But now there’s a fast-growing new guy on the block who I think is the odds-on favorite to lead the Internet TV and podcast expert dialogue format.

His name is Bill Mitchell, and the political operatives he’s in on-line conversation with (one-hour shows Monday-to Saturday) are the sharpest minds in the political business – and that fits quite well with the content FReepers love.

It’s no surprise that the Left-leaning Wikipedia has ignored Bill Mitchell altogether.  For the longest time, Bing also would not help you find Mitchell’s Twitter feed.  In fact, the best in-depth analysis of Bill Mitchell I could find is a semi-hit-piece written by a BuzzFeed reporter published three weeks before Nov 8.

This story is a good read.  It loads fast – no Javascript games and there just one ad at the bottom of the page.  And reading the Trump-is-surely-going-to-lose slant of the story and the insults against Mitchell by losers like Rick Wilson and Frank Luntz is sweet justice looking back. Here are some teasers from the article:

• …unlike Trump's operatives and surrogates, Mitchell has no campaign ties and no professional reputation to lose.  He’s just a guy tweeting from his home office and, arguably, the only person alive who will come out of the 2016 presidential campaign better than he started it.
  
  
• In truth, Mitchell’s only qualification seems to be that he just started tweeting a lot. “I’ve always been clever with words,” he said.  “As a recruiter, I make my living as a communicator.  I’m good with word images and painting pictures with a short phrase here and there that people can relate to.”
  
  
• For a growing number of Americans who’ve defined themselves online by adding "Deplorable" to their Twitter handle, @mitchellvii is a beacon in a growing storm of bad news — a kind of post-truth, post-math Nate Silver.  For everyone else, the account is an almost anthropological look at Trumpism at its most simple-minded.
  
  
• Becoming the laughingstock of the Washington establishment does not appear to trouble Mitchell. “I’m making all the right enemies,” he said. “You know you’ve made it on Twitter when famous people are trolling you. Frank Luntz trolls me all the time and I enjoy when they troll me. I enjoy the battle of wits."
  
  
• But Mitchell’s influence is considerable — earlier this year, the MIT Media Lab listed him as the 26th-most influential Twitter account of this election cycle (the highest-ranked non-politician or journalist), between Lindsey Graham and Megyn Kelly.
  
  

In the last few weeks, I got hooked on Mitchell’s daily internet shows.  The kinks haven’t been worked out yet at YourVoice radio and internet TV, because he’s operating on a shoestring and does the production of his shows out his home office. 

But Mitchell has big plans.  He’ll soon have a production studio in Palm Beach, Florida – not too far from the Winter White House.  And his team is getting rallies organized around the country.

[killermosquito]

I don’t click the twitter heart too often on anyone except this guy and James Woods.

[xp38]

between Lindsey Graham and Megyn Kelly

not exactly the ideal spot to be

[KavMan]

This article is from ---> October 18, 2016 !!!

[grey_whiskers]

FiveThirtyHate: Meet The Trump Movement's Post-Truth, Post-Math Anti-Nate Silver

Someone remind me again, speaking of math, and Truth, and Nate Silver...

What percentage chance did Silver give for Trump being elected?

Who actually won again?

We need to instill this attitude in the Dems:

"Well, they're all moral victories." (preen).

Better yet, drive them to despair, and hopefully thence to repentance. They are utterly evil.

[Fantasywriter]

‘@mitchellvii is a beacon in a growing storm of bad news — a kind of post-truth, post-math Nate Silver.’

What is ‘post-math,’ supposed to mean? Mitchell is post math the way Hillary is post alcohol. He’s a numbers whiz. I followed him for mos leading up to the election, and his poll analysis was nonpareil. He took the methodology apart at the seams, and put the poll biases in glaring highlights. His predictions were uncannily accurate.

He was at his best on election night. I checked in at FR, and a chorus was claiming we’d lose FL. I switched over to Mitchell’s twitter feed, and he said (in essence) ‘FL is in the bag for Trump: here’s why.’

I’d have been a basket case on election eve without Mitchell. I’ve enjoyed his pithy comments in the meantime too. He’s right—he does have a way with words.

[Grampa Dave]

Do us, the non Twitters, a favor.

Post some of his best tweets and ping us.

[LS]

Not even me?

[null and void]

Does he look more like a televangelist or the anti-Christ?

[trisham]

LOL! That goes without saying.

[null and void]

Larry, Larry, Larry, I've never clicked on a twiter heart for you.

Nothing personal, it's just, like Grampa Dave, I don't DO twitter...

[LS]

BTW—abd I dob’t care who gets credit-— but Mitchell was educated in the weaknesses of polls during the campaign by Ricard Baris of PPD, by “Deplorable Greg” (one of the key sources in our book “How Trump Won,” and by myself.

He never credited or retweeted any of us so we all unfollowed. Finally, last week, Mitchell had Baris on his show. But for over a year he literally poached stuff from all our tweets/articles without attribution.

But such is Twitter.

[enumerated]

“What is ‘post-math,’ supposed to mean?”

I could be wrong, but think it was meant as a compliment to Mitchell and dig at Nate Silver.

I take “math” in this context to mean the reality of the 2016 election.

Pre-math (pre-election), Nate Silver was seen by many as the premiere election forecast prophet. Post-math (post election), not so much.

[Enlightened1]

Buzzfeed = Fakefeed

[Fantasywriter]

Tagthebird claims these are among the best Mitchell tweets. Some are fairly old, and I’ve certainly see funnier tweets (Mitchell has a very keen sense of humor), but fwiw:

https://tagthebird.com/us/users/mitchellvii/bestof/alltime

[Fantasywriter]

Interesting! Thanks for explaining that.

[Grampa Dave]

Sorry Brother Larry, I don’t Tweet/Twitter or whatever.

Some of us old cavemen guys/gals just discovered fire!

I let the Freeper Tweeters find the good stuff from Trump and others and post it.

[Grampa Dave]

Thanks for that great link.

I laughe so hard, my tear ducts got over loaded~

[RitaOK]

Anybody know where CNN Jim Acosta has gone? Crickets, lately. Did he run out of gas?

[null and void]

What is this “fire” of which you speak?