September 7, 2012

Giving the (Axel)”rod” to Gallup?

From Breitbart:

Gallup Sued by DOJ after Unfavorable Obama Polls, Employment Numbers

Senior Obama Campaign adviser David Axelrod reportedly contacted The Gallup Organization to discuss the company’s research methodology after their poll’s findings were unfavorable to the President. After declining to adjust their methodology, Gallup was named in an unrelated lawsuit by the DOJ.
Axelrod took to Twitter to direct people to an article by the National Journal’s Ron Brownstein suggesting a flaw in Gallup’s methodology. Brownstein compared Gallup’s demographic sampling predictions to previous election exit polls as well as contemporaneous research released by Pew, CNN/ORC and ABC/WaPo.

The heart of the Obama camp complaint lies with varying predictive models for 2012 turnout. Gallup had predicted a lower minority turnout, effecting Obama’s margin against Romney.

An email chain from Gallup employees reveals the deliberations about how to handle Axelrod:

In response to that suggestion, another senior Gallup official wrote — in an email chain titled “Axelrod vs. Gallup” — that the White House “has asked” a senior Gallup staffer “to come over and explain our methodology too.”

That Gallup official, the email continued, “has a plan that includes blogging and telling WH [the White House] he would love to have them come over here etc. This could be a very good moment for us to [show] our super rigorous methods compared to weak samples etc. …”

The writer named several news organizations with their own polling methodologies, all of which resulted in numbers more favorable to President Obama at the time.

In response to that email, a third senior Gallup official said he thought Axelrod’s pressure “sounds a little like a Godfather situation.”

“Imagine Axel[rod] with Brando’s voice: ‘[Name redacted], I’d like you to come over and explain your methodology…You got a nice poll there….would be a shame if anything happened to it…’”

Since Axelrod first contacted Gallup, the DOJ has become interested in an old allegation made by a former Gallup employee…

…Read on…

Remember when that idiot liberal, uh, what’s his name, Murtha? Compared Camp Delta, where we store captured terrorists at GITMO, with the killing fields of the Pol Pot regime or whatever? Well, it seems like an administration like this one that uses its justice department to get revenge for polls that don’t go their way runs right along the same plane of political policy as any totalitarian government. Then again, communist governments are totalitarian governments, and, well, Barack Obama’s track record….

by @ 12:53 pm. Filed under Abuse Of Power

September 6, 2012

Crowe and the Coasties

Seth being an ex-Coast Guardsman (about a zillion years ago today, heh heh), I thought I’d share this one.

From Coast Guard Insider at Military.com:

Oscar-winning actor Russell Crowe lost his way kayaking in the waters off New York’s Long Island and was picked up by a U.S. Coast Guard boat and ferried to a harbor, officials said Sunday.

The 48-year-old actor was kayaking with a friend and launched from Cold Spring Harbor Saturday afternoon on the Long Island Sound, according to U.S. Coast Guard Petty Officer Robert Swieciki. As it got dark, the two got lost and eventually headed for shore, beaching their kayaks in Huntington Bay, nearly 10 miles (16 kilometers) east from where they had set out.

The U.S. Coast Guard was patrolling the area, and heard Crowe call out to them from the shore around 10 p.m. local time, Swieciki said. The “Gladiator” actor, who Swieciki didn’t recognize,” and Crowe’s friend paddled over to the boat. The Coast Guard officers pulled them up and, along with their kayaks, gave them a ride to Huntington Harbor.

“He just needed a little bit of help, he just got a little lost,” Swieciki said. “It wasn’t really a rescue, really, more of just giving someone a lift.”

Swieicki said no one was injured, and the two men were wearing life vests. He said the actor, who was grateful and friendly, seemed like he was a fairly experienced kayaker.

Crowe sent a Twitter message at about 1:30 a.m. Sunday local time thanking the officers, and saying he was out on the water for four and a half hours.

“Thanks to Seth and the boys from the US Coast Guard for guiding the way…4 hrs 30 mins, 7m(11.2km),” he wrote.

Crowe is on Long Island filming a new movie called “Noah” in Oyster Bay. The biblical epic is directed by Darren Aronofsky and scheduled for release in 2014.

Crowe won an Academy Award for best actor for his role as a Roman soldier called Maximus in “Gladiator.”

*The coastie named Seth mentioned in the article is, as far as we know, no relation to the Seth we know and love (most of the time) here at Hard Astarboard.

by @ 8:34 am. Filed under U.S. Coast Guard

September 5, 2012

Better off? Of course we are…NOT!

From Townhall.com:

A day after fumbling a predictable and straightforward question posed by Mitt Romney last week — are Americans better off than they were four years ago — the Obama campaign provided a response on Monday that it said would be hammered home during the Democratic convention here this week: “Absolutely.” The focus on the campaign’s handling of the question, after halting and contradictory responses from Democrats on Sunday, complicated the White House’s effort to begin striking a set of themes the president intends to highlight here and carry through the general election.

“Absolutely.” Deputy Campaign Manager Stephanie Cutter has gone so far as to assert that “by any measure” voters are in better shape today than they were four years ago. Really? Let’s consult the raw data:

Unemployment: 7.8% then, 8.3% now

Median income: $54,983 then, $50,964 now

Gas prices: $1.85 per gallon then, $3.78 now

National debt: $10.6 trillion then, $15.9 trillion now (with the debt hitting the magic $16 Trillion mark tonight, appropriately)

Half of all Americans are now considered “poor” or “low income.”

One out of every six Americans is living in poverty — an increase of millions since Obama took office.

Food stamp usage has increased by 45 percent under this president.

Average family health care premium costs have increased to roughly $15,000 per year.

Ah, the videos…

The entire Townhall.com article, written by their political editor, Guy Benson, is here.

by @ 12:29 pm. Filed under Liars, The Fact Of The Matter..., The President