Just listened to Diane Rehm hosting a panel discussion about the Congressional Races with Ron Elving (NPR), Tom Mann (Brookings Institution) and Norm Ornstein (AEI). At one point, a caller from Florida phoned in. He had just returned from early voting, and his observation was that in looking at buttons worn by the many people in line to vote, and speaking with a few, he saw about a 90-10 split for Kerry, and he wanted to understand why the polls all show the race in Florida so close. I didn't catch, who in the panel, specifically, replied, but the reply was really very snarky and dismissive, something to the effect that we all tend to congregate with people who share our views, so that's hardly a representative sampling, snicker, snicker, ignoring the caller's point that this wasn't a bunch of friends getting together, this was the crowd at his polling place. Granted, maybe the guy lives in a heavily Democratic locality, who knows? I don't recall anyone asking that question. I think the thing that annoyed me was the derisive tone more than anything else.
My point is that I am very tired of hearing the conventional wisdom repeated by self-referential Beltway pundits in the media echo chamber, uttered in ponderous, Leslie Neilson-like tones, that THIS IS A CLOSE RACE... A VIRTUAL TIE. IT'S GOING TO BE A LEGAL NIGHTMARE. Is it really? Which of Diane's distinguished panelists have actually been to early voting polling places in Florida/Ohio/etc.? Have any of you gone to vote yet? What have you seen?
PS-Go Sox!