Republican Hatred Of Science (And Reality) Lends Itself To Comedy (As Well As Tragedy)

What a team!

There are several Republican polling firms who stay in business by telling Republicans what they want to hear. Mitt Romney actually believed he was going to win in November. He spent a small fortune on consultants and pollsters and instead of predicting a 332-206 electoral college sweep for President Obama they had persuaded Romney-- who lost the national vote by over 3.5 million-- that he should waste his time interviewing a transition staff and potential cabinet members. He didn't win a single close state and the only state even remotely considered part of the battleground he won was North Carolina, where Obama had been persuaded to give up on-- by reality-based pollsters-- in September. Romney won all the states any Republican would have won-- your Utahs and Wyomings, Mississippis and Texases-- and not a single other state. But a lot of consultants and pollsters got very rich in the process. And not just the clowns at Rasmussen, famous for making up numbers out of the blue.

The right-wing newspaper, the ridiculous Washington Times calls silly right-wing polling firm, McLaughlin & Associates "truly trustworthy" and "the best at scientifically taking the public's pulse and advising those who significantly shape public perception." Huh? They're never right about anything. Their latest poll-- meant to give hope to the dismal Republican candidate in the Massachusetts Senate race, Gabriel Gomez, so that conservative suckers keep writing checks (that enrich pollsters and consultants)-- shows a dead heat: Markey: 45% to Gomez 44%. "Conclusion: With less than 3 weeks to go to Election Day, Gabriel Gomez has the momentum in the race.  Gomez’s high favorable ratings will be a strong asset over Markey’s high unfavorable ratings in this neck-and-neck race."

In a hilarious series of tweets yesterday, a Daily Kos blogger routed the poor saps at McLaughlin & Associates, emphasizing their record for getting every single prediction wrong:

Real Clear Politics shows has a running average of all the legitimate polling in the race over the last month. The average shows Markey up by just over 10 points-- and in the most recent poll, by New England College, up over Gomez, 52-40%. That's 12 points. None of that seems to matter to Republicans, who continue squandering their donors' money on pollsters who paint them a pretty picture. Why would anyone hire McLaughlin & Associates after their hilarious predictions that Richard Mourdock would win in Indiana or that Republican Barry Hinckley was a mere 7 points behind Rhode Island incumbent Sheldon Whitehouse (who swamped Hinkley 65-35% and won every single county in the state except East Greenwich and Scituate, where it was neck and neck)?

And a new poll out today from WBUR shows Markey ahead 46-39%.

And the gap was yawning-- 26 points-- among those who said “women’s issues” are “very important.” Little wonder the Democrat has made abortion a central issue in the campaign.

Gomez’s standing among women, meanwhile, seems to be slipping. His favorable-unfavorable rating and vote totals among female voters both declined between the May and June WBUR polls.

...Women, who tend to vote in larger numbers than men, have proved a difference-maker in recent competitive Massachusetts elections.

Meanwhile, conservative Republicans don't trust Gomez, who has come across as shady, opportunistic and without core values, and recent surveys show the hard right of the GOP just sitting the race out and not bothering to get involved-- or even vote.