Polls, Political Reporting, and the Betty Ford Clinic

In the wake of the New Hampshire fiasco (and virtually every other polling fiasco, such as Zogby's confident prediction of a McCain win in Michigan on the morning of election day, just before Romney trounced McCain), the American Journalism Review has a modest proposal: would it be possible to take ALL political reporters and send them for treatment at the Betty Ford Clinic? Because, as AJR's editor, Rem Rieder, correctly notes, they certainly do seem addicted to polls and making predictions - even wild ones - about the political future.

Rieder notes, with approval, Tom Brokaw's reaction to the question, if the polls are wrong, how will we predict the winners? Brokaw's response: wait until the actual results are in.

What a novel and refreshing idea...