Didn’t the polls show Bush behind during other elections?
Yes.
The thing about national polls is that we don’t have a national popular vote on president. We have state votes, and a tally of electors. So if a really left-wing state (or states) such as NY, CA, IL, etc are over-represented in these ‘national’ polls, well, you could have the left-wing candidate seem pretty far behind in the national popular poll, and yet still lose.
This is why liberals are infuriated by the electoral college - along with the rest of the Constitution.
That’s what I thought. What I remember best about the 2004 election was, how bad we were going to get creamed. Unpopular war, too much spending etc. I wasn’t a FReeper then but that’s what the MSN keep telling me.