Centrisity

Masking the Polls

Mitch posted a screed on a Halloween mask poll several weeks ago. It is a tongue and cheek look at Halloween mask sales, and how they have successfully predicted the last several elections. But what he didn't do, was look into the 'internals' of this poll.

First, that GW's support is slipping:

As of Sept. 30, President Bush masks were outselling Sen. John Kerry masks, 55 percent to 45 percent. One week later, on Oct. 7, Bush's lead fell to 54 percent. The Monday after the second presidential debate, Bush's lead slipped even further to 53 percent.

But more importantly:

A shortage of Kerry masks may skew this year's poll results at other retailers, admits Krohn. While the Bush masks have been around since the last presidential election, the Kerry masks were not released until mid-August. As a result, smaller costume shops, which have less clout with big mask manufacturers, may have had a harder time securing shipments than large shops, says Krohn. "Even now most shops haven't had any Kerry masks in stock, and don't plan on it," she adds.

AnyMask.com has already sold out of the Kerry masks, says Bryan Kerrigan, president of ABM Mask & Costume Enterprises, Inc., which runs the Ashburn, Va.-based shop. But despite the shortage of Kerry masks, sales figures still show the Kerry mask in the lead, and AnyMask.com predicts a Kerry-Edwards win in November. "We always goes for the underdog," says Kerrigan, who also foresees the production of a John Edwards mask after the election.

Aaaahhhhh, so the Right is stifling the supply of Kerry masks to influenced the poll. What will they stoop to next *grin*

Seriously, this is all tongue and cheek and only shows that we can find a poll to support our view depending on how hard we dig. The only poll that matters is the one taken on November 2nd, not October 31st.

Read the whole article, it was a fun way to start my day.

Flash