I'm in that valley between waiting for an article to get published and being completely obsessed with a new topic. This morning, I had a series of appointments including a long delayed trip to the dentist. The whole time, I was turning an idea over and over in my head. I was writing in my head while driving, which probably isn't the safest way to operate a motor vehicle.
So, I need to be distracted for a moment. Let's talk about the meaning behind the latest polling figures. It appears that the race has tightened up.
Andy Polsky offers the best spin of these recent events:
For starters, the clear winner was the news media. No one likes a one-sided presidential campaign, and that was the direction of the contest over several weeks prior to the debate. To keep the audience interested, the race has to remain reasonably close. One doesn’t need to see dark conspiracies, then, to suggest that the pundits were keen to find signs of life in Mitt Romney in the first debate.
Though I have to admit I find Andrew Sullivan's hysteria very amusing.
Ezra Klein says to relax and listen to politial scientists, not pundits.
Apt. 11d 
Psychologically what I find interesting is the effect of the perceived group opinion on individual opinion. Mind you, I think this was happening before the debate, when Obama was solidifying his lead — the winners are more likely to be vocal and those who support the loosing candidate quieter. I’m guessing some of the swings in the poll numbers reflect an amplification effect of people who really support one candidate not being willing to admit it until they think public opinion in going their way.
But, there’s also the effect in which group opinions sway individual opinions (an interesting experiment is one in which individuals go along with the group consensus on a verifiable fact — line length, even when the group consensus is demonstrably wrong).
http://cla.calpoly.edu/~cslem/101/9-C.html
I’m guessing these effects sway polling (potentially more than voting, though potentially someone has studied the question?)
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Not a very long wait. It’s already published. Like Lisa, my dad had problems with credits not transferring. He went to undergrad at four different schools but never got a Bachelors. Luckily, nobody at law school cared.
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