The two staples the MSM uses to gauge the day-to-day, week-to-week strength or weakness of a campaign are the polls and contributions. I would think those two things are the easiest to manipulate to suit the spin of the campaign reporting them.
Does anybody vouch for the numbers released by a campaign on contributions? With no independent verification it's child's play to release numbers making it look like a campaign is on fire. I'm especially skeptical about the numbers released by Obama recently showed members of the armed services were contributing heavily in favor of Obama, something like six to one. BS.
I think that much of what we see and hear in the heat of campaigns is spun or downright false. They throw it out there, content in the knowledge no one will have the time, or inclination, to check the figures. Besides that, there will be a new round of slanted, spun or downright falsified figures the very next day.
Polls have become nothing but another campaign tool. Along with a clearly biased MSM and the constant deluge of questionable ‘information’ the whole process has become suspect.
You have a good point. I just don’t get how their internals don’t square up with the “result”. There may be a grain of truth to some of these polls, I feel like some of them are honest brokers and are really trying to get to the truth. But when you have people answering polls falsely because they don’t want to be percieved as racists, then I am really thinking along your logic, they are starting to look pretty worthless.
My gauge is the reaction to the VP pick for McCain. The more they caterwauler, the more confident I become that rat ship is sinking in shit creek with no paddle.
“his fund raising reports”
He WAS doing VERY well all this past several months.
“Does anybody vouch for the numbers released by a campaign on contributions? “
The FEDERAL Elections Commission does.
But seeing the last few weeks how good the federal government agencies are with numbers and monitoring...
... nothing is sure there. Usually they do not even get to campaign irregularities until several years after an election.