See, I Told You So: Polls are Close

RUSH: Now, ladies and gentlemen, in an effort to keep you engaged, in an effort to keep you enthused and upbeat, let me go back in time to the recent past and remind you of my prediction about polls. I said, ‘The polls are going to be used to affect your thinking; the polls will be used to influence your thinking and your attitudes and opinions. The polls will be used to depress you. The polls will be used to dispirit you.’ And I said, ‘As we get close, however, the polls are going to have to tighten up, because at the end of the election, at the end of the day, pollsters do have their credibility to be concerned about. They all want to get it right at the end of the day.’ They hope to influence Obama winning big with all the pre-election polls, but you get down to the wire and they have to start getting close. And, lo and behold, a new AP poll just posted shows the presidential race has tightened after the final debate, McCain gaining among whites and people earning less than $50,000. Two weeks before the election McCain and Obama are essentially running even among likely voters. It’s Obama 44, McCain 43 among those voters who are considered likely to vote on November 4th. AP says the race is still volatile. Three weeks ago the same poll found that Obama had a seven-point lead. There’s a new Fox poll out today that’s just crazy: 49-40, Obama, but yet 80 to 52 on who people think is more qualified to be president. It’s an astounding number in McCain’s favor in terms of qualifications, but Obama is up 49-40. Hello, Bradley Effect.

BREAK TRANSCRIPT

RUSH: Just as predicted, ladies and gentlemen, the polls are starting to tighten. AP, 44-43 Obama, dead heat. ‘But, Rush, but, Rush, Zogby is at ten.’ Yeah, they’ve been bouncing all over the place on Zogby. ‘But the CBS/New York Times poll has Obama at 13.’ I know, but that’s CBS and the New York Times. We have the Battleground Poll at one point, we got AP at one point, and, ‘contrary to other polls, some of which show Obama ahead by double digits, the IBD/TIPP poll, Investor’s Business Daily, shows a sudden tightening of Obama’s lead to 3.7 from 6.0. McCain has picked up three points in the west and with independents, married women, and those with some college. He’s also gaining momentum in the suburbs, where he’s gone from dead even a week ago to a 20-point lead in American suburbs. Obama padded gains in urban areas and with lower class households but he slipped four points with parents.’ He slipped four points with parents.

Now, I think some of this tightening is a backlash to the Colin Powell endorsement. All the Drive-Bys say, ‘Oh, well that’s it. Colin Powell puts Obama over the top, that’s it, that’s the most distinguished endorsement.’ I think just the opposite. I think the Powell endorsement indicates that that’s a racial endorsement, it’s based on race, not racism, based on race, and there are a number of other factors. You can’t ignore all the excitement in the large crowds that Palin has generated wherever she’s gone. The Drive-Bys trying to put out news saying that McCain’s giving up in Colorado when he’s not, the very day that Palin drew record crowds in Grand Junction, Colorado. Chuck Schumer out there, oh, yeah, it’s going to be a landslide, all the Democrats talking about it’s going to be a landslide. But, man, they’re not acting like it. They’re having to cheat with ACORN, their media is having to lie and cheat. All of their support groups are doing everything they can to portray this as a landslide, yet they’re acting like it’s going to be close. And it is going to be close.

BREAK TRANSCRIPT

RUSH: Are you sitting down, ladies and gentlemen? I have more polling data that has just been brought to my attention. ‘A new Rasmussen Fox poll shows the Republican ticket in Ohio is up over Obama 49-47; the flip-flop in results follows Joe the Plumber’s doubts over Obama’s tax plan.’ This, by the way, dovetails with the McCain campaign’s internals in Ohio. So now it’s 49-47 McCain over Obama. ‘Rasmussen Reports shows McCain with his highest level of support in Ohio since mid-September. Two percent are still undecided. The same poll places McCain ahead in Florida 49-48. Both battleground states now too close to call with Florida’s 27 electoral votes the big bonus prize.’ Don’t go wobbly on me out there, my friends.