Politics & Government
Nate Silver to Politico: "You Can't Comprehend!"
The New York Times’ FiveThirtyEight blogger, Nate Silver, had some choice words about Politico, which had taken pot shots at his election-polling skills during the recently concluded presidential campaign. Politico wasn’t alone: The entire spectrum of right-wing punditry, led by Fox News, attacked Silver for predicting that an Obama victory was at least 80 percent certain. The Electoral College specifics of Silver’s long-prophesied Obama win turned out to be uncannily accurate.
The forum for Silver’s comments was Grantland.com sports blogger Bill Simmons’ “B.S. Report” podcast, during which, as Talking Points Memo reports, Silver noted:
What was remarkable to me is that you had some, like, journalist for, um, Politico, or something … who, like, tweeted … ‘All Nate’s doing is averaging polls and counting electoral votes?’ … ‘That’s the secret sauce?’ It’s like, well, yeah, and the fact that you can’t comprehend that very basic thing … that says more about you than, than about me, right?”
Click on this audio-only link for the highlight quote, via TPM:
-
Latest NewsAugust 11, 2025Tracking the Chaos of Trump 2.0
-
Column - State of InequalityAugust 15, 2025Measles Is Making a Comeback — and California Isn’t Immune
-
Worked OverAugust 25, 2025Forest Service Cuts Leave Firefighters Mowing Lawns While Morale Craters
-
Worked OverAugust 25, 2025Trump’s Policies Are Adding Up to a Hostile Work Environment
-
The SlickAugust 19, 2025There’s a ‘Lake’ of Oil Under L.A.’s Soon-to-Close Refinery. Who’s Going to Clean It Up?
-
Featured VideoAugust 13, 2025Federal Officers Continue Arresting Anti-ICE Protesters During 24/7 Demonstrations
-
Column - California UncoveredAugust 13, 2025‘They Feel They Can Trust No One; Not Even to Open the Door’
-
Latest NewsAugust 12, 2025People in ICE Custody Complain of Long Waits for Deportation