Heard about those Leaked Exit Polls?

The Blogsphere has been virtually buzzing about some raw exit poll data that has been leaked by an anonymous source. Left-Wing blogs are calling this data a "smoking gun". But what does a trained and obsessive poll analyst like the Mystery Polster say? "Nothing to see here. Move along."

So is there anything truly new in these documents? Perhaps not. At least not to me, and hopefully not to MP's faithful daily readers. However, to political sophisticates like Kaus who do not share our odd obsession enthusiasm for the exit poll controversy, the official documents have more power than a few lines buried in an online chat. The last time most political junkies checked in on this story, it was a few days after the election and the "blame the bloggers" meme was in full force. You remember: The problem was not the exit polls or the way they were handled by the networks, but the foolish bloggers who blabbed about "early numbers" they did not understand. Well, these documents confirm something loyal MP readers have long known - the just before poll-closing numbers had the same errors.

It is a reminder that while Blogs are a powerful new medium for getting out information, they are also limited by their expertise.