Dems Trying to mau mau the GOP

James
Taranto writes in the WSJ scathingly of the silly scare tactics and extreme rhetoric the Dems are employing, from 'bit of a dick' Obama down through 'suicide bomber' Tina Brown all the way to 'Wahhabis' Chris [Tweety Bird] Matthews.

...asking people if they're "liberal," "moderate" or "conservative" is like asking if they're happy or unhappy. For one thing, it's completely subjective. In our experience, for instance, when someone describes himself as "moderate" (or "fiscally conservative and socially liberal"), that usually means he's insanely and intolerantly left-wing on abortion and homosexuality and pretty much apolitical otherwise. But we suspect this does not match the experience of people who spent most of their time in the Midwest, or even Brooklyn.

People can also be fickle about how they describe themselves. We'll bet a lot of voters who described themselves as "moderates" in 2008 had become "conservatives" by 2010 in reaction to President Obama's overreach. And the "liberal" label has been damaged for decades. Using "progressive" instead might smoke out some of the "moderates" who actually lean left.

Today's lesson: Always treat analyses of poll results with a critical eye (including when you read them in this column). We have no reason to doubt the good faith of Wehner's and Silver's analyses, in contrast with some others. But it's very easy to read too much into the numbers and draw unwarranted conclusions that reinforce one's own prejudices, hopes or fears.

Read the whole article for a sane and balanced take on the deranged collection of inverts, paraphiliacs and raving lunatics on the Left, analyzed lucidly by a mature analyst.