There Are Facts

It turns out the polling was accurate all along. Amazingly accurate as it happens.

As I wrote on Sunday, the polls were unequivocal. The only chance Romney had to win was if the polls were somehow displaying some kind systemic polling bias. I explained that that was possible even if it was not likely. Not likely was right. The polls were just right on the mark.

As a side note, not that I'm out for anyone losing their livelihood or something, but I do think there should be some accountability for some of the pundits that were just silly, silly wrong. For goodness sake, take Dick Morris off the air. Seth Masket is right about Peggy Noonan.

Anyone (including the Romney campaign) who considers Pennsylvania to be a swing state should be shut out of the discourse. They're not living in the fact-based world. I continue to defy anyone to show me something insightful Mark Halperin has said. Gallup Poll meet lack of credibility. Lack of credibility, this is the Gallup Poll.

There are facts. Thank goodness.

Mark Halperin ...

... is not advancing the state of knowledge.

Here's his scoop this morning:

Here’s why some Democrats are worried tonight. If Romney wins the three Southern battlegrounds (FL, NC, and VA) and OH, he is at 266 electoral votes. Leaving the other five battlegrounds unallocated, that means Obama would be at 237 and Romney would only need to win one of the remaining five states to get to 270+.

Halperin is right. Alternatively, if Romney wins CA, NY, and IL, he will similarly have a shot of winning. Or he could win CA, FL, and VA! There are LOTS of combinations!

I am dumber for having read this article.

Romney is Toast

I don't mean he's going to lose. He may win.

I mean he's literally a piece of unbuttered Wonder Bread toast. There is nothing in the suit. He says nothing.

On your average day, this is pretty obvious. But pair him up with Mark Halperin, who has to be one of the most vacuous empty suits in journalism (see more on Halperin here and here), and you have a real contest of nothingness.

I defy you to find Romney saying anything here:



Or how about here:



He continues to say nothing at length here:



Here, he indicates that he has a 59-step plan to put people back to work and boldly drive the unemployment rate down to 6% by the end of his first term. He just can't tell you a single one of those 59 steps or how his efforts differ from current policy ... which CBO estimates will have unemployment ... at 6% by 2016-2017. That's right: Romney's central campaign promise is that he can match the unemployment rate that will result from zero policy change over the next 4.5 years. That's like eating water-flavored toast.



Andrew Sullivan critiques the interview well:

Mark Halperin interviews Mitt Romney. If you do not feel the urge to "cut out your own heart with a dull knife" after reading it, there's something wrong with you.

"Enormous" Shot of Momentum

Jeb Bush is endorsing Mitt Romney providing what Thomas Roberts in MSNBC calls an "enormous" shot of momentum ... a few days before Romney loses Louisiana. Not to be outdone, Mark Halperin (who I continue to believe is the least insightful media personality out there) declared:

Mitt Romney’s Illinois win could be the beginning of the end of the Republican nomination fight.

That's right. It "could be" the "beginning" of the end ... of this one phase of the process. Or it "could not" be. Who knows? Thanks for the insight Halperin.