Statistics have nothing on polls

Sen. John Kerry “has taken big lead,” according “to an L.A. Times poll.” But the Times poll that showed Kerry “beating Bush by 7 points” has created a controversy over whether the poll’s sample accurately reflects the population as whole, ROLL CALL reports on Tuesday. “Not counting independents, the Times’ results were calculated on a sample made up of 38 percent Democrats and 25 percent Republicans — a huge and unheard-of margin,” ROLL CALL claims.

It sounds like Kerry is in trouble. If Kerry is only up by 7 with a boost of 52 percent more Democrats than there should have been in the sample, he’s doomed.