Making something outta nothing...

Today, our hero's intern conjures a story from thin air! Here's the BS:

Of course, if the Republican base is now super-duper opposed to ACA, that could have turnout implications. But people whose intensity of opposition to ACA is increasing are a shrinking minority, can’t vote twice, and were unlikely to ever vote for Democrats.

The only problem? All this speculation is based on a statistical blip the size of the poll's margin of error. Some 53% of Republicans are now have a a"very unfavorable" opinion of the Affordable Care Act, versus last month's 50%. That's nuthin' -- there's been no statistically significant change, and certainly no evidence of a meaningful trend.* This is why responsible journalists check actual poll results instead of just linking to stories about them, and why they sometimes even check the "methodology" section.

In a way, this story speaks to the insidiousness of JournoList. Are posts like McNeely's the result of mere intellectual clumsiness, or is it "Worry about the Fiery Republican Base Day" on some secret e-mail list? One wonders -- and that's the whole problem.




*Nerd point: The margin of error for the Republican subset is no doubt even larger than 3%, as Republicans are only a portion of the total 1,504-person sample. McNeely should figure out the actual margin of error as penance. And then punch himself in the face repeatedly in a dimly lit basement.