Political blogs are starting to feel a little shrill, or maybe that is the cumulative effect of being just a bit too tuned in to the US election. Or reading Newsblog's own comment section. Nevertheless, here are some more reflective reads.
First off come the blogs that did not always know how they were going to vote. Best in class are Andrew Sullivan's Daily Dish and Daniel W Drezner, both conservatives with a belief in personal freedoms who have become disillusioned by the Bush administration's lack of fiscal conservatism and mismanagement of the Iraq war – Drezner to the extent that he is now backing John Kerry. Neither could be said, or would claim, to represent the solid 6 to 7% of undecideds found in most polls. However they do go some way to explaining how an electorally-significant chunk of likely voters have not yet made their minds up in what is almost always referred to as the most polarised US election in modern times.
If that 6% or 7% has you groping in your bookmarks file for electoral-vote.com and factoring in swings in the swing states then it is maybe time for Mystery Pollster. Mark Blumenthal is a Democratic pollster but he uses his blog to give a straight analysis of the latest polls; the same "straight shooting" he gives his clients about methodology and what polls can and cannot tell you about the race. If you are intrigued by the incumbent rule and why polls show divergent results, this is one for you.
