The Democratic Strategy

As the guys over at Real Clear Politics point out, Democrats have very effectively been exploiting a strategy: They offer only minimally convincing evidence of a Democratic "surge" to the press, which eagerly seizes upon and prints it -- as it fits the MSM's own ideological predilections. The idea is to dishearten Republicans, and help the perception of a pending Democratic sweep become a reality.

Obviously, the strategy couldn't work without the complicity of the media. But the take-away lesson is that polls aren't only a simple snapshot in time -- they're also sometimes misreported to create an impression that isn't necessarily true.