In the days leading up to last week’s first presidential debate Mitt Romney’s campaign was at risk of being written off by many in his own party.  Yes, it had gotten that bad.  Beginning with his silly “world tour” that had him saying all the wrong things in just about every international stop, continuing with […]

            Nate Silver has made a science of reading and interpreting the collective work of pollsters.  His blog, fivethirtyeight.com, is a must read for anyone who wants to understand what the polls are saying, especially when they can seem to be pointing in different directions.             Case in point: the highly regarded Gallup tracking poll […]

            I consider it no mere coincidence that, on the weekend immediately following my sixty-sixth birthday, my computer crashed.  Call it a sign of the times (my personal times).             I had been somewhat apathetic about birthdays of late until this one, especially in the seven years since I was diagnosed with cancer.  Being told […]

            Sports and political campaigns have a lot in common.  Underdogs sometimes win; favorites sometimes lose.  Not always, to be sure, and maybe not even most of the time.  But often enough to make what is happening in this year’s presidential campaign not all that surprising.             The sports analogy is most clearly evident with […]