Mark Mellman

Two weeks ago, I argued that commentators who were certain debates wouldn’t affect the presidential contest were oversimplifying. Debates haven’t produced 10-point shifts, but in an otherwise close race, they can move enough voters to be decisive.

And that seemed to be the case as Mitt Romney apparently benefited from a “big bounce” out of the first debate, which put the president in serious jeopardy.

But that story, too, is overly simple.

Accountability matters. There is too little follow-up in this world. When pollsters or presidents, reporters or editors make mistakes, they should be accountable — which in the first instance means acknowledging the mistakes. (Of course, it’s always easier to hold others accountable, which is what I’m doing here.)

Independent should never be confused with accurate when it comes to polling.

How did progressives cede the religious freedom argument in the contraception debate

I admit it: I underestimated Newt Gingrich, who has established himself as the Freddy Krueger of politics, repeatedly left for dead but always able to resurrect himself (at least, so far). 

As a graduate student, I designed a research project that required me to watch hundreds of hours of network television news broadcasts from the 1960s and ’70s.