A get-out-the-vote tactic

Having repeatedly tried to support the YES vote for Scottish independence by claiming it was 22 points down in the polls, the UK media tries to boost the NO turnout by suddenly reporting that the YES side is ahead by two points:

Scotland WILL become independent, shock new poll claims as it shows 51% now back Yes campaign with just 11 days until vote

  • Fifty-one per cent of voters to choose independence on September 18 
  • Shock poll puts Yes campaign in the lead for the first time
  • Better Together safely holds 49 per cent of the vote
  • Gap between sides narrows to just two points with less than a fortnight before historic referendum 

It’s always interesting to see the way in which the polls move before a big vote of this sort. They always seem to move in the same pattern whenever the media clearly favors one side over another. First a huge lead for the side it is supporting, gradually declining over time, and when the media gets worried it is actually going to lose, a shock poll suddenly appears showing the side it opposes ahead, but only by a little.

It seems to me that the more the English politicians and celebrities huff and puff, the more the Scots appear to favor independence.