A lot of people out there have become frustrated with how close the polls are running with Obama vs. McCain. If the country is so deep in the shitter and everybody knows it and wants change, why are these polls always showing the two candidates within a few points of each other? A blog such as Kiko Jones runs through specific demographical points, and Hillary et al. A week or so ago were articles floating around reminding us that even in the greatest of electoral blowouts, the popular vote was very close.
A few weeks ago I was ranting and raving about this too. How the fuck was this happening? I'd watch Hardball, I'd watch Meet the Press, The McGlaughlin Group, I'd check out Fox News; whatever, they all had polling coming in that close. The it occured to me: who is benefitting from constantly, breathlessly reporting on the race being so close? Hardball. Meet the Press. McGlaughlin Group, Fox, and on and on and on. Does it not behoove them to have us anxious about the race, feeling like we constantly have to check in to see hwo things are going?
I'm not saying they're tampering with polls, I'm not saying I know what they're doing. But, as I said, I do know a tight, dramatic race works in their favor. And who gets to control such information? The very media that releases it. In their minds, they know that if it's August and they say "this race is over!" everybody will turn off their tv sets/spend even more time on YouPorn. It's like this past NCAA Tournament when Billy Packer caught a ton of heat for announcing "This game is over" halfway through the first half in one of the national semi-final games. He didn't get in trouble cause the powers that be thought he disrespected the sanctity of the game, or the spirit of the tournament. He got in trouble cause the suits knew that if the announcers act like the game's out of reach, viewers will switch to something else. Makes me wonder.
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