I've never met a poll I didn't question.
It's a lot like that old journalism adage about questioning your sources. Anytime someone tells you something — anything — consider where they're coming from. It can make all the difference.
A great example this week? All the tracking polls that came out this week painting this dramatic picture of Sen. McCain's huge leap over Sen. Barack Obama in the heated presidential race. According to Gallup's poll, for instance, McCain now owns a five-point lead over the senator from Illinois. But, again, let's consider the source. The poll queried a roughly equal number of Republicans and Democrats for this week's poll, but just two weeks ago those same pollsters questioned 10 percent more Dems.
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So that "bump" is kind of artificial, but I have to give credit to Gallup for at least trying to poll a bit more fairly. That being said, it might actually be more worth the public's time if all these pollsters questioned the so-called independents exclusively. Because, honestly, they'll be the ones deciding this race.
But I digress. One of the few groups I can usually count on when it comes research, though, issued some of their latest findings this week, that apparently break through the conventional wisdom once again.
The number crunchers over the Employee Benefits Research Institute reveal that employer-based health insurance coverage for the nation's nonelderly has been on a little bit of a "roller coaster ride in recent years," but contrary to popular belief its actually remained virtually unchanged since 1994.
Last year, 62.2 percent of the nonelderly claimed employment-based health benefits, about the same number as the year before, according to the study. Across the board, the nearly 83 percent of America's nonelderly could claim some kind of health insurance coverage.
Something to consider the next time the rhetoric starts to drown out the facts. Talk about a bridge to nowhere….
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