XKCD On Excessive Poll Watching
11/05/2012
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Cartoonist Randall Munro of XKCD.com offers this, under the heading "Poll Watching"

The choices we make Tuesday could have MASSIVE and PERMANENT effects on the charts on Nate Silver's blog!

But in fact, our poll analysis Romney's Unreported Share of the White Vote will continue after the election, whoever wins, based on exit polls.  That's how we get figures like those in the table below:

These are the shares of the white vote garnered by recent GOP Presidential candidates.

Nixon

1972

67%

Ford

1976

52%*

Reagan

1980

56% [1]

 

1984

64%

Bush I 

1988 

59%


1992

 40%* [1]

Dole      

1996 

46%* [1]

Bush II   

2000 

54%

 

2004 

58%

McCain  

2008 

55%*           

 

(* = defeated.  [1] Major Third Party ran.)

 

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