If you're looking for the kookiest angle, try UnskewedPolls.com where Romney is ahead by a gazillion points. That because, as Elizabeth Reeve points out in The Atlantic, the word on the street is that all other polls -- showing Obama with a consistently large lead -- are skewed Democratic. Or "skewed 'Democrat'," as rightwing talk-show hosts (high school dropouts?) insist.
But there's a very, very good explanation for this "skew." There are fewer self-identified Republicans. By far.
The idea that you can't trust the polls because they survey more Democrats than Republicans has been a conservative fixation since polls began showing a slight edge for Obama in the summer. Almost all polls find there are more Americans who say they're Democrats than there are Republicans. As The Washington Post's Chris Cillizza has explained, the reason Republicans often win anyway is that a higher percentage of them actually vote. Pew Research Center puts the current population split at 35 percent Democrats, 33 percent independents, and 28 percent Republicans. There were more Ds than Rs even in great Republican years, like 2010. Polls show fewer Republicans and Democrats than exit polls, the Huffington Post's Mark Blumenthal says, because "Voters typically express a slightly greater sense of partisanship moments after voting than they do weeks or months before voting." And then there's a factor Republicans have been fretting about all year -- the growing Latino population is looking more and more Democratic. The number of Latinos who voted in 2008 was 9.7 million -- 2 million more than voted in 2004. About 12 million are expected to vote this year. Latino Decisions' tracking poll finds Obama beating Romney among Latinos by 69 percent to 24 percent. ...Elizabeth Reeve, The Atlantic<
In the 82% Republican county where I live, some neighbors have "Stop Obama" signs on their cattlegates. But I've talked with Republicans who'll vote for Romney but not because they want to "stop Obama." They simply disagree with his policies. It's that old-fashioned.
The virulent right is loud and claims a disproportionate part of the media. But they're a minority within a minority of 28%.
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