Voting Wrongs

… Want to fix an election? No problem. Just make up a story that the other side is trying to rig the election—and meanwhile try to rig the election. … Watergate was a struggle over the Constitutional powers and accountability of a president, and, alarmingly, the president and his aides […] Read more »

Can national polls predict House elections?

… In the past, the generic ballot has overstated Democratic support, as polls from 1992, 1988 and 1980 demonstrate. But the polls’ predictive power has increased in recent years. The best work on this has been done by Dartmouth’s Joseph Bafumi, Columbia’s Robert Erikson and Temple’s Christopher Wlezien. Their model […] Read more »

Measuring the Undecideds

For much of the year, head-to-head polls of President Obama and Mitt Romney have generated eerily consistent results: Obama garners a percentage in the high 40s but not at 50 percent, with Romney either tied or slightly behind. A small total — about 5 to 8 percent — remain undecided. […] Read more »