Thursday, January 03, 2008
Finding what you're looking for
I wasn't paying close attention, but if I heard what I think I heard, Norah O'Donnell of MSNBC is the early front-runner for this election cycle's vapidity in broadcasting award. A few minutes ago (about 7:30 CST), MSNBC reported that all three of the Democratic front runners (Edwards, Clinton, Obama) were receiving 30-35% of the Iowa caucus votes according to early exit polls, with Clinton polling 32%. Norah O'Donnell does a segment on where each of the candidates is drawing his or her strongest support. For example, she listed yong voters as major source of Obama support. I thought she said that Obama was revceiving 57% of the vote of 17-29 year olds (like I said, I wasn't paying close attention). I didn't catch Obama exact number but I remember that he was polling somewhere in the 30-35% range overall, at that point. 57% is significantly more than 30-35%, so it's fair to say that young voters were a significant source of Obama support, score one for O'Donnell (or the teleprompter). However, O'Donnell listed married women as a mjpr source of Clinton support as she was polling 32% among married women. She was, at that point, polling 32% among caucus goers in general. That's Norah O'Donnell.
Alas, I must confess to having experienced a sad epiphany while typing the above. I'm really getting to be old enough to stop being suspicious every time somebody more than ten years younger than me gets a job as an upper-level political reporter or analyst with a major network.
Alas, I must confess to having experienced a sad epiphany while typing the above. I'm really getting to be old enough to stop being suspicious every time somebody more than ten years younger than me gets a job as an upper-level political reporter or analyst with a major network.
