These are some of the claims spewed in recent weeks by GOP politicians, pundits, radio and TV talk-show hosts, consultants, experts, and similar blowhards -- all of which turned out to be completely wrong:
- Enthusiasm for Obama is way down.
- Young people will not vote in as large a quantity as 2008.
- African-Americans won't turn out on the scale they did in 2008.
- Latinos won't skew as much for Obama as they did in 2008.
- The polls are wrong.
- The polls are skewed and can't be believed.
- The polls are a liberal conspiracy.
- When all polls but one show Obama winning, believe the one that says Romney.
- Pennsylvania, Minnesota, and Wisconsin will go red this year.
- Benghazi will be the story that tips the election against Obama.
- Obama not meeting with Netanyahu at the UN will kill the Jewish vote for him.
- It's a good idea to say stupid things about rape.
- The War On Women is a liberal lie that won't affect the election outcome.
- You can't win the White House when unemployment is around 8%.
- The Black Panthers exist in numbers larger than 5.
- Obama will take away your guns.
- Kid Rock and Meat Loaf are bigger than Bruce Springsteen and Jay Z.
- Karl Rove is as good at math as he is at influencing campaigns with SuperPAC money.
- Hundreds of millions of Super PAC dollars will make the difference for Romney.
- Dick Morris is a political genius.
- Nate Silver doesn't matter.
- Donald Trump matters.
- You can win an election with a base made up mostly of old white guys.
Will Americans turn on these bad predictors and hold them accountable for being so incorrect? Will right-wing media outlets stop hiring them? There's as much chance of that as there is of Mitch McConnell throwing his hands in the air and proclaiming, "I didn't accomplish job one of making Obama a one-termer, so now I guess John Boehner and I will put aside our differences with the President and work to fix America's problems."
Labels: politics