# Charlie Cook is touting the latest FOX News poll. It's a barnburner! **URL:** \ **Category:** Politics & Elections\ **Created:** [October 14, 2016, 3:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/charlie-cook-is-touting-the-latest-fox-news-poll-its-a-barnburner/768514 "2016-10-14T15:13:55Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 12\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![SlackerInc](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/slackerinc/32/275_2.png) [@SlackerInc](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SlackerInc)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2016, 4:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/charlie-cook-is-touting-the-latest-fox-news-poll-its-a-barnburner/768514/61 "2016-10-20T04:00:58Z")
I’m pretty sure Democrats made hay in the Senate in 2008 by tying GOP incumbents to Dubya. ---
**Author:** ![Ravenman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ravenman/32/2929_2.png) [@Ravenman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ravenman)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2016, 4:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/charlie-cook-is-touting-the-latest-fox-news-poll-its-a-barnburner/768514/62 "2016-10-20T04:28:46Z")
Look at the five Republican incumbents who lost. Ted Stevens was facing prison, Dole had just accused her opponent of being an atheist in an ad that backfired horribly, Coleman damn near won in a state that went to Obama by double-digits, Smith lost by three points where Obama won Oregon by 16, and Sununu lost to a former governor who was very popular. But if you want to say that Bush brought down these incumbents, whatever. ---
**Author:** ![BigT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bigt/32/12044_2.png) [@BigT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigT)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2016, 7:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/charlie-cook-is-touting-the-latest-fox-news-poll-its-a-barnburner/768514/63 "2016-10-20T19:19:30Z")
> [@CarnalK](#): > > He said in the OP that Cook was a legendary prognosticator and analyst so if you had the remotest interest in this thread you could easily google him. SlackerInc has already pointed out that question 7, about the generic House vote, is what had him excited (it moved 44% Dem to 48 while Republican had a slight decrease of 43 to 42). So while his excitement seems over done, I see no reason for this continued pile on about him not explaining everything to us. That’s the what, not the why. Why do these numbers excite him? Some people tried to guess, thinking maybe he incorrectly thought it meant that the Democrats were posed to take on the House. And I’d argue the “pile on” has more to do with the contemptuous tone he takes when replying to legitimate questions. It’s human nature. ---
**Author:** ![CarnalK](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnalk/32/486_2.png) [@CarnalK](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CarnalK)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2016, 7:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/charlie-cook-is-touting-the-latest-fox-news-poll-its-a-barnburner/768514/64 "2016-10-20T19:38:06Z")
> [@BigT](#): > > That’s the what, not the why. Why do these numbers excite him? Uh, cuz the Dem numbers went up? And he hoped it was a trend. > [@](#): > > And I’d argue the “pile on” has more to do with the contemptuous tone he takes when replying to legitimate questions. It’s human nature. Probably, but some of the questions were a little dumb too. “Who’s this Cook guy?” Is their Google broken? ---
**Author:** ![SlackerInc](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/slackerinc/32/275_2.png) [@SlackerInc](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SlackerInc)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2016, 8:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/charlie-cook-is-touting-the-latest-fox-news-poll-its-a-barnburner/768514/65 "2016-10-20T20:07:02Z")
I also got a vibe of “I’m not familiar with him, so who cares?” Reminds me of the way a lot of people here regard Twitter. ---
**Author:** ![Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/left_hand_of_dorkness/32/7156_2.png) [@Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Left_Hand_of_Dorkness)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2016, 8:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/charlie-cook-is-touting-the-latest-fox-news-poll-its-a-barnburner/768514/66 "2016-10-20T20:14:44Z")
> [@CarnalK](#): > > Probably, but some of the questions were a little dumb too. “Who’s this Cook guy?” Is their Google broken? A good OP would look something like this: > [@Good OP](#): > > According to a new poll by a famous pollster, Clinton’s now projected to win Ohio and Iowa, to take the popular vote by double-digits, and to turn Texas into a battleground state. That’s amazing! I’ve not read the entire link, but other folks might want to look into it; I’d love to see what you find. Note how this is barely longer than the OP, but it actually has information in it, unlike the OP’s clickbait-style post (“You won’t believe the results of this poll!”) While clickbait is admittedly popular on Facebook, I dislike threads or even individual posts that adopt that approach. And if you think including information in your post is “spoonfeeding,” I’d like to have a talk with whoever taught you expository writing :). ---
**Author:** ![CarnalK](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnalk/32/486_2.png) [@CarnalK](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CarnalK)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2016, 8:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/charlie-cook-is-touting-the-latest-fox-news-poll-its-a-barnburner/768514/67 "2016-10-20T20:15:27Z")
> [@SlackerInc](#): > > I also got a vibe of “I’m not familiar with him, so who cares?” Reminds me of the way a lot of people here regard Twitter. I’m sure Charlie Cook would find that comparison very flattering. ---
**Author:** ![SlackerInc](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/slackerinc/32/275_2.png) [@SlackerInc](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SlackerInc)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2016, 8:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/charlie-cook-is-touting-the-latest-fox-news-poll-its-a-barnburner/768514/68 "2016-10-20T20:35:38Z")
**LHOD** , your proposed OP would indeed be a good and interesting one, albeit not one I could have written because I didn’t know that information about the poll until I read your post. And you are entitled to like what you like and prefer what you prefer. Personally I have no problem with what Cook and The Pollsters\* did, which I emulated (to a less extreme extent) but YMMV. Another way mileage varies, BTW, is that I don’t generally go into threads and complain about their creators not supplying enough information for my tastes. 😛 \*Your comments about Facebook imply that The Posters habitually make enigmatic posts like that, as a marketing strategy or something; but if you look over their page you will see that it was actually a rarity, inspired by Cook and his awe-invoking reputation. ---
**Author:** ![SlackerInc](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/slackerinc/32/275_2.png) [@SlackerInc](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SlackerInc)\ **Post date:** [October 25, 2016, 8:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/charlie-cook-is-touting-the-latest-fox-news-poll-its-a-barnburner/768514/69 "2016-10-25T20:16:51Z")
More good news from Cook: > **[Republicans Should Be Very Worried](https://politicalwire.com/2016/10/25/republicans-should-be-very-worried/?utm_content=buffera8321&utm_medium=social&utm_source=twitter.com&utm_campaign=buffer)** > > Charlie Cook: "For sev­er­al weeks many Re­pub­lic­an can­did­ates and op­er­at­ives have been fret­ting that Don­ald Trump’s mis­be­got­ten can­did­acy could cause the bot­tom to fall out for GOP can­did­ates in Sen­ate, House, gubernat­ori­al,... > [@](#): > > One veteran Republican pollster said privately on Monday morning that he felt ‘sick to his stomach.’ In some cases, candidates are weighed down by their association with Trump. In other cases, Trump is causing normally stalwart Republican voters to lose heart. They see the GOP presidential nominee going down in flames and don’t want to be part of a Hillary Clinton coronation, so they’re contemplating not voting at all. ---
**Author:** ![Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/left_hand_of_dorkness/32/7156_2.png) [@Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Left_Hand_of_Dorkness)\ **Post date:** [October 25, 2016, 8:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/charlie-cook-is-touting-the-latest-fox-news-poll-its-a-barnburner/768514/70 "2016-10-25T20:38:00Z")
Now that’s what I’m talkin about. I’m not a big fan of voter suppression at all, and I’ll never encourage people not to go vote, and I think that the more people we have who are actively involved in our nation’s electoral system the better for our society. But if a bunch of Republicans, despite everything I believe, decide to sit this one out, I admit I’m gonna do the Snoopy dance. ---
**Author:** ![Uniqueorn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/uniqueorn/32/2807_2.png) [@Uniqueorn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Uniqueorn)\ **Post date:** [October 25, 2016, 8:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/charlie-cook-is-touting-the-latest-fox-news-poll-its-a-barnburner/768514/71 "2016-10-25T20:53:54Z")
> [@Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](#): > > Now that’s what I’m talkin about. I’m not a big fan of voter suppression at all, and I’ll never encourage people not to go vote, and I think that the more people we have who are actively involved in our nation’s electoral system the better for our society. > > But if a bunch of Republicans, despite everything I believe, decide to sit this one out, I admit I’m gonna do the Snoopy dance. The Democrat’s strategy should have been to start a conspiracy meme stating: “If you’re going to vote, they will know who you are and they will come to take your guns away!” 😛 ---
**Author:** ![SlackerInc](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/slackerinc/32/275_2.png) [@SlackerInc](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SlackerInc)\ **Post date:** [October 25, 2016, 10:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/charlie-cook-is-touting-the-latest-fox-news-poll-its-a-barnburner/768514/72 "2016-10-25T22:27:20Z")
> [@Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](#): > > Now that’s what I’m talkin about. I’m not a big fan of voter suppression at all, and I’ll never encourage people not to go vote, and I think that the more people we have who are actively involved in our nation’s electoral system the better for our society. > > But if a bunch of Republicans, despite everything I believe, decide to sit this one out, I admit I’m gonna do the Snoopy dance. I’m also talkin’ about it, but with much less of a conflicted perspective. I don’t want our voters suppressed, but theirs? Fine by me! If someone came up with a very clever way to insert \*\*Uniqueorn’s \*\*conspiracy theory into the brackish waters of the alt-right (without it being possible to trace it back to our side), I’d be totally down with that. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/charlie-cook-is-touting-the-latest-fox-news-poll-its-a-barnburner/768514.md?page=3)