10.22.2008

News outlets sweat over exit poll accuracy

"F***! We're way out on this Obama landslide branch. What the hell are we gonna do when they tell us to say McCain won?!? Better start planting the story now or they'll be after us with pitchforks...." - NBSABCCBSCNNFOXMSNBC

Media outlets are preparing for the possibility that their Election Day surveys could be skewed because of overstated support for Barack Obama, largely because of the enthusiasm of his supporters.

While exit polling is a notoriously inexact science—early exit poll results suggested John Kerry would be elected president in 2004—the introduction of several new variables, ranging from the zeal of Obama’s supporters to his racial background to widespread early voting, is causing concerns among those who charged with conducting the surveys and the networks that will be reporting them.

Read full story