# 538 puts up Presidential election forecast **URL:** \ **Category:** Politics & Elections\ **Created:** [June 8, 2012, 8:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/538-puts-up-presidential-election-forecast/624551 "2012-06-08T20:41:38Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 7\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![elucidator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/8edcca/32.png) [@elucidator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elucidator)\ **Post date:** [June 9, 2012, 6:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/538-puts-up-presidential-election-forecast/624551/21 "2012-06-09T18:12:39Z")
Wait, Governor Douchebag Romney. My bad. ---
**Author:** ![dropzone](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dropzone/32/7515_2.png) [@dropzone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dropzone)\ **Post date:** [June 9, 2012, 9:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/538-puts-up-presidential-election-forecast/624551/22 "2012-06-09T21:43:10Z")
Per NPR’s rules of style (they explained it once) it would be Governor Douchebag Romney in his first mention and Mister Douchebag Romney in all subsequent mentions. I suppose merely calling him Douchebag is reserved for mentions off the air as it is too familiar. ---
**Author:** ![Wesley\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wesley_clark/32/20581_2.png) [@Wesley\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wesley_Clark)\ **Post date:** [June 11, 2012, 3:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/538-puts-up-presidential-election-forecast/624551/23 "2012-06-11T03:14:35Z")
I love 538. I remember in 2008 it was dead on for the electoral college and senate (I don’t remember reading up on the house elections). I do remember how Obama was constantly winning until McCain picked Palin. Palin was really popular at first and had McCain winning the election for a few weeks. But after Palin started talking people turned back to Obama. I remember the GOP strategy on the subject ‘just keep her out of the limelight and tell her not to say anything until after the election’. But suffice it to say things can change. Obama was winning, then Palin was picked and McCain was winning, then Palin flopped and Obama was winning again. All within a few months. ---
**Author:** ![Cliffy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/59ef9b/32.png) [@Cliffy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cliffy)\ **Post date:** [June 11, 2012, 11:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/538-puts-up-presidential-election-forecast/624551/24 "2012-06-11T23:52:03Z")
> [@Wesley\_Clark](#): > > I love 538. I remember in 2008 it was dead on for the electoral college and senate (I don’t remember reading up on the house elections). He didn’t systemically cover the House in '08, although he’d take a look at particular races from time to time. –Cliffy ---
**Author:** ![Typo\_Knig](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/cdc98d/32.png) [@Typo\_Knig](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Typo_Knig)\ **Post date:** [June 12, 2012, 1:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/538-puts-up-presidential-election-forecast/624551/25 "2012-06-12T01:23:54Z")
> [@Wesley\_Clark](#): > > I love 538. I remember in 2008 it was dead on for the electoral college and senate (I don’t remember reading up on the house elections). > > I do remember how Obama was constantly winning until McCain picked Palin. Palin was really popular at first and had McCain winning the election for a few weeks. But after Palin started talking people turned back to Obama. I remember the GOP strategy on the subject ‘just keep her out of the limelight and tell her not to say anything until after the election’. > > But suffice it to say things can change. Obama was winning, then Palin was picked and McCain was winning, then Palin flopped and Obama was winning again. All within a few months. McCain’s all-over-the-map response to the economic meltdown in September 2008 did him no favors compared to “No Drama” Obama. At that point Obama’s “ground game” was firmly in place, although the general public didn’t know how important that would be to the election. I’m still disappointed that the Biden-Palin debate was’t the complete double-barreled train wreck entertainment it should have been. ---
**Author:** ![VarlosZ](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/d78d45/32.png) [@VarlosZ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/VarlosZ)\ **Post date:** [June 12, 2012, 5:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/538-puts-up-presidential-election-forecast/624551/26 "2012-06-12T17:57:28Z")
> [@Rhythmdvl](#): > > Crap. That pretty much downgrades 538 discussion-wise. Plenty of people will likely still post and start conversations, but it won’t be the same as when there was free access. You guys do know that site’s pay wall is really, really porous, right? And that that is [apparently intentional](http://www.avc.com/a_vc/2011/08/on-porous-paywalls.html), so you’re not really getting over on them by taking advantage. If you don’t want to resort to things like fiddling with the link address or hitting the stop button before the blocker has a chance to load, you also get (I think) 5 articles a day through search engines; just google the title of an article you want to read. Alternately, in practice, you get 10 articles per month _per browser_; when you hit your limit on Chrome, open up Firefox. Etc. ---
**Author:** ![tim314](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tim314/32/3468_2.png) [@tim314](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tim314)\ **Post date:** [June 27, 2012, 4:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/538-puts-up-presidential-election-forecast/624551/27 "2012-06-27T04:09:29Z")
> [@dropzone](#): > > I knew Nate had drunk the NYT Flavor-Aid when I saw crap like _Mr._ Obama and _Mr._ Romney. He is dead to me. I agree with **Mr. dropzone**. That’s super annoying. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/538-puts-up-presidential-election-forecast/624551.md?page=1)