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Fox's Fuzzy Math: 193 Percent Of The Public Support Palin, Huckabee, And Romney

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Reporting on the latest Fox News/Opinion Dynamics poll last night on Fox News' local Chicago affiliate, anchor Byron Harlan employed some funny math in asserting that Sarah Palin is leading the pack for the GOP nomination in 2012:

HARLAN: It looks as if the rogue route is helping Sarah Palin. Her book tour has meant new support. A new Opinion Dynamics poll for 2012 shows her on top when it comes to landing the nomination. Palin is at 70 percent, about a third higher than this past July. Mike Huckabee stands at 63 percent. Mitt Romney's 60.

Those figures add up to 193 percent. An accompanying graphic tried to squeeze the numbers into one pie chart:

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Who's leading the conversation?
This visualization below allows you to see the impact that each user has on the current conversation. The top row contains the group of users who have had the most impact, the 2nd row the group of users who have had the 2nd most impact (et cetera). Users with similar impact are grouped together, and the average score of the group is shown to the left of the group. The author of the article is also shown on the left, in their corresponding group. Each user's score is based on the number of comments the user has made plus the number of votes their comments have received. The scores are calculated relative one another, so while their absolute value is not particularly important, their relative difference does indicate a larger difference in impact on the conversation.
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{"commentId":10865848,"authorDomain":"killfile"}

So given Fox's recent history of on-screen propaganda errors, one might be tempted to assume that this is Fox trying to inflate the size of crowds as usual.

But probably not.... this strikes me as more a case of "stupid" than "partisan." Though, apparently Fox is doing its part to stimulate the economy by giving graphics production jobs to people without a 4th Grade education.

{"commentId":10865848,"threadId":"731746","contentId":"3538667","authorDomain":"killfile"}
  • 1 vote
Reply#1 - Tue Nov 24, 2009 9:51 AM EST
{"commentId":10886454,"authorDomain":"rascal2pt0"}

If Palin is put on the ballot and wins. I WILL be leaving the country.

{"commentId":10886454,"threadId":"731746","contentId":"3538667","authorDomain":"rascal2pt0"}
    Reply#2 - Wed Nov 25, 2009 9:01 AM EST
    {"commentId":10887156,"authorDomain":"egoode"}

    2 + 2 = 5 ???

    I always KNEW they were Orwellian...

    {"commentId":10887156,"threadId":"731746","contentId":"3538667","authorDomain":"egoode"}
    • 1 vote
    Reply#3 - Wed Nov 25, 2009 9:38 AM EST
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