On Thu, 16 Sep 2004, Pew was quoted saying:
> Kerry Support Rebounds, Race Again Even
>
> The shifting voter sentiment observed in this poll reflects a number of cross
> currents in public opinion.
Of course there's also the simpler, alternate hypothesis: the polls were bullshit. Overlapping, mutually reinforcing bullshit, structurally similar to the increasing proofs that Saddam had WMDs.
The right has gotten so good at getting outlets and polling organizations and think tanks and you name it that they have created a information bubble in which they believe. And they've gotten so good at projecting it -- in part because, living in their bubble, they have an intimidating confidence -- that now we're all trapped in the bubble, convinced for a moment that things might be true that can't be.
It's the same bubble that brought us the Iraq war. And for that matter the midterm 1998 elections. Which the Republicans lost decisively just after they almost impeached Bill Clinton and were absolutely positive the entire country was on their side.
These guys aren't geniuses of mass delusion. They're geniuses of self-delusion. They have a massive aura of success and they haven't succeeded in anything. It's a bubble, pure and simple. And the feeling that this time, maybe all normal laws have been suspended -- that's exactly what all bubbles feel like when they've gone on too long.
Michael