We’re right back to the doomsday hype
Well that didn’t take long. After various major media outlets spent the second week of October using outlier polls and out-of-context data to convince the left that the sky was falling, some of those same news outlets then spent the third week of October using different sets of outlier data to convince the left that things were suddenly turning around. Now it appears this upcoming week is going to be all about doomsday hype yet again.
First we were subjected to a full week of the narrative that the Democrats were going to lose the midterms. MSNBC and others just couldn’t stop talking about a poll which claimed that Democratic candidate Phil Bredesen was down by fourteen points in Tennessee. Nevermind, of course, that at the time, the polling averages showed that Bredesen was down by about five points. That same week MSNBC subjected us to the narrative that Hispanic people had suddenly woken up that day and decided they weren’t going to vote in the midterms.
This kind of doomsday hype is, of course, entirely about ratings. There are no other factors. They know they can keep you tuned in by presenting numbers out of context to scare the everloving crap out of you. But of course this only works for so long. So after a week of telling us that the Democrats were about to lose everything, the media then began reporting an outlier poll that claimed Phil Bredesen was up by one point. Again, nevermind that the polling averages still showed he was down by about five points. It’s all about creating the appearance of movement in order to create dramatic hype so people will keep watching.
Now, however, we’re back to the doomsday hype. MSNBC has now decided that millennials woke up today and all decided they’re not going to vote in the midterms. Wait, what happened to the Hispanics who all supposedly decided last week that they weren’t going to vote? They don’t seem to be part of the story anymore. That’s because it was a false narrative to begin with. Again, the major news outlets who pull this crap aren’t trying to help or hurt either side. They’re not trying to drive people to the polls. They’re not trying to do anything but boost their own numbers. This is 100% about ratings, and nothing else. There are no other factors. Will we allow these antics to paralyze us into staying tuned in, or will we get out and spend these next two weeks fighting for America?
Bill Palmer is the publisher of the political news outlet Palmer Report