The American Spectator

Print Email

Text Size

The Spectacle Blog

An extremely smart take is here. I and others were critical of many pollsters but Charlie Cook points out how very accurate the Des Moines Register turned out to be. He notes: "Their headline on Tuesday was 'Poll: Obama, Huckabee lead into final stretch' with Mike Huckabee up over Mitt Romney by six (it was 9) and Obama up by 7 and 8 over Clinton and Edwards. It was on touch wider with 2nd and 3rd reversed, but that was pretty good polling and many doubted them. It doesn't get much better than that." I think there is a larger message here as well. The national media and all of us would be well advised to pay more attention to how the race is portrayed locally. Iowa press for example didn't excoriate Huckabee for thee odd presser. Yepsen and others picked up on the huge Democratic turnout possibility which sealed Obama's win. The national media may not always be in touch with the heartland, but hometown papers often are.