Ignore the Polls. They Don't Know

Ezra Klein writes that it's almost equally likely that Harris or Trump would sweep the swing states
By Bob Cronin,  Newser Staff
Posted Oct 13, 2024 1:30 PM CDT
Polls Aren't Going to Tell Us the Winner
Vice President Kamala Harris, left, and Bishop Rosie O'neal attend a church service Sunday at Koinonia Christian Center in Greenville, North Carolina.   (AP Photo/Susan Walsh)

The commercials seem wall-to-wall, the media coverage is intense, and the pressure—not just on the presidential candidates—is building. And the nation has more than three weeks of this left. Ezra Klein suggests one way Americans can ease their stress is by ignoring the polls. They're not going to tell us which candidate will win anyway, Klein writes in an opinion piece in the New York Times. The polls could be more accurate than they have been in the past couple of elections and still be off by 2 percentage points in battleground states. "That would be consistent with Harris winning every swing state," Klein writes. "It would also be consistent with Trump winning every swing state."

That's not overstating the indecision in the Kamala Harris-Donald Trump race, Klein says, pointing out that Nate Silver's model calls the most likely result "Harris sweeping all seven swing states. And the next most likely is Trump sweeping all seven." Pollsters are taking steps to avoid the mistakes in previous elections, but there are problems with those measures, too. There are undecided voters even now, and there are voters who have decided but won't cast ballots. Events that appear to be major losses or victories for Trump or Harris barely budge them in polls. America will have its answer soon, but Klein says it won't come from the polls. Klein's column can be found here. (More Election 2024 stories.)

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