(By Ray D.)
After Last Week's Medienkritik Article: SPON's Pitzke "Drastically Corrects" Bush-Meter Prognosis
Sometimes miracles really do happen. In just seven little days, George W. Bush's chances of re-election jumped a full 17 percentage points, and this according to none other than SPIEGEL ONLINE's left of left America correspondent Marc Pitzke:
What a Difference a Week Makes: Bush Jumps 17% in SPIEGEL ONLINE's "Prognosis."
(Left: July 12; Right: July 19)
Pitzke's sudden change of heart clearly came from the realization that his July 12 article made absolutely no logical sense, a fact that we at Medienkritik were happy to point out. First he described the election as being "in the region of a stalemate," but went on to give Bush only a 33% chance of winning on SPIEGEL's infamous Bush-meter with the odds "2 to 1" in favor of Kerry. This obvious contradiction was likely the product of the massive pressure Mr. Pitzke is under from his editors to satiate the anti-American appetite of SPIEGEL ONLINE's readers.
We are pleased that Mr. Pitzke has courageously chosen to "drastically correct" his mistake. Any step towards objectivity, however small, is a step in the right direction...
Is it possible for SPON to pick a more horrible picture of Bush? I mean how many hundreds of frames did they have to sort through before they found this one?
Yet more evidence of SPON's politcal bent
Posted by: Hector | July 20, 2004 at 11:18 PM
I wonder what they were thinking when they used the term "Bush-messer" which sounds like the german word for "machete" (a kind of big knife used to chop your way through a jungle)
Posted by: Eric B | July 21, 2004 at 02:03 AM
The Rasmussen poll has swung back to Bush, 47 to 45. On July 12th (when that 'projection' was published?) it was 48 to 44 for Kerry.
Honestly it's going to get weirder for a while. Next week the Dems have their convention and traditionally that means that Kerry will take a huge lead in the polls. In 2000 Gore had a 17 point lead after the Democratic convention. We could see that much or more of a lead for Kerry. Bad sign for Kerry if his lead isn't 15 or more, I think.
The post-convention Kerry lead should fall some, then the Republicans will have their convention. Bush may well take a large lead at that point, but that doesn't mean it's over either. I'd wait until the beginning of September before drawing any conclusions at all.
What do I expect on Labor Day (September 1st or so)? Something very much like Bush 45, Kerry 45. This smells like a close election absent something really dramatic - like a capture of OBL or the like.
Posted by: Don | July 21, 2004 at 02:21 AM
It must be so much fun to be a Spiegel editor and top "journalist". You have your own magazine to satisfy your deepest desires and wishes. Since nobody is above you, except maybe God, who doesn't count, there is no limit to your "creative" journalism.
Journalism at Spiegel has become high modern art. It has its roots in reality but resemblences reality only remotely. In fact, it usually has little to do with reality. Just like modern art, journalism at Spiegel, when dealing with "important" issues, is a creative(some would say deformed) way of interpreting reality.
The tiny difference between Spiegel's journalism and modern art is that people expect modern art to confuse their senses(visual, hearing etc). From Spiegel, people expect the opposite, a certain order instead of confusion.
One would think that it should be difficult for Spiegel to convince their customers that the confusion and misinformation it sells is real. In a normal world you can't convince large groups of people that your deformed reality is the only reality. In our abnormal, post 911 world everything is possible. The sky is the limit. All you need is a group willing to believe and unwilling to question. That group is amply representated in Germany.
Posted by: WhatDoIKnow | July 21, 2004 at 08:22 AM
I am a lifelong democrat and no fan of George Bush.. But a certain part of me - actually MOST of me .. would like to see Bush win again.. just to piss the Europeans off.. I dislike Kerry more than Bush..
Posted by: | July 21, 2004 at 05:10 PM
My #3 reason why I'm voting for W.
We've been driving them crazy for over 225 years, I see no reason to stop now.
Posted by: Sandy P | July 21, 2004 at 07:46 PM
Notice how Spiegel's graphics downplays the increase. The meter on the left has a white-stars on blue fill. The eye is attracted to the eight stars that are showing The meter on the right shows a barely perceptable increase...
adding only a single (and faded) ninth star with an expanse of muted blue and red above it that nearly blends into the background.
Posted by: Tom Banks | July 21, 2004 at 08:09 PM
Very astute, Tom Banks. I registered something un-kosher, but didn't consciously identify it (I usually don't have the stomach to examine anything from the Spiegel closely).
Posted by: kid charlemagne | July 21, 2004 at 09:03 PM
Sind die jetzt bei SPIEGEL-ONLINE komplett bekloppt? Diesmal der Bush-Hasser Spörl, da Pitzke schwer damit beschäftigt ist, den Demokraten in Boston mächtig in den Arsch zu kriechen:
Sei's drum, der Bush-Messer ist heute in Geberlaune (oder auch in Zockerlust). Er wettet 3:1, dass Herr Kerry Herrn Bush besiegen wird, wenn es am 2. November ernst wird. Und wenn es nicht so kommt, fragen wir dann sehr distanziert: Wer war noch mal Herr Kerry?
http://www.spiegel.de/politik/ausland/0,1518,310420,00.html
Posted by: Downer | July 26, 2004 at 03:12 PM