• Follow us now on

    "That some should be rich, shows that others may become rich, and, hence, is just encouragement to industry and enterprise."

    -- President Abraham Lincoln - 1864

    "The supply-side claim is not a claim. It is empirically true and historically convincing that with lower rates of taxation on labor and capital, the factors of production, you'll get a bigger economy."

    -- U.S. Rep. Jack Kemp

  • Special Election – Jan 12, 2010

  • 2010

  • 2013

  • SeaWorld & Busch Gardens Conservation Fund

    In a fight between Jim Webb and Ollie North, who would win? Oh, that's right, we already know the answer to that question.

    Potential 2012 Convention Cities:

      Republicans

    • Atlanta, GA
    • Indianapolis, IN
    • San Antonio, TX

      • Democrats

    • Like we care.

    Potential 2012 Presidential Candidates:

  • Current Poll Questions

    No Current Polls.

    Visit Our Sponsors

    Advertise here

    Join Team Sarah!

  • Open Threads

    2010 Elections

    2011 Elections

    2012 Elections

    2013 Elections and Beyond

  • Poll Accuracy Based Results

    Election 2009 actual results: Bob McDonnell 58.6 percent for a 17.4 percent margin of victory. Virtucon rankings are based upon total amount the two numbers deviate from the actual numbers.

    1. Survey USA (10/30-11/1) – 58% / 18% (deviation 1.2%)

    2. VCU (10/21-25) – 54% / 18% (deviation 5.2%)

    3. (TIE) PPP (10/31-11/1) – 56% / 14% (deviation 6%)

    3. (TIE) Roanoke College (10/21-27) – 53% / 17% (deviation 6%)

    5. Suffolk Univ. (10/26-28) – 54% / 14% (deviation 8%)

    6. Rasmussen (10/27) – 54% / 13% (deviation 9%)

    7. Washington Post (10/22-25) – 55% / 11% (deviation 10%)

    8. Times Dispatch / Mason Dixon (10/28-29) – 53% / 12% (deviation 11%)

    9. Daily Kos / Research 2000 (10/26-28) – 54% / 10% (deviation 12%)

    10. Virginia Pilot / CNU (10/8-13) – 45% / 14% (deviation 17%)

    11. Clarus (10/18-19) – 49% / 8% (deviation 19%)

    Next time you see a poll, judge it by its past performance. Here is how they rank in terms of accuracy based upon the 2008 presidential election:

    1T. Rasmussen (11/1-3)**

    1T. Pew (10/29-11/1)**

    3. YouGov/Polimetrix (10/18-11/1)

    4. Harris Interactive (10/20-27)

    5. GWU (Lake/Tarrance) (11/2-3)*

    6T. Diageo/Hotline (10/31-11/2)*

    6T. ARG (10/25-27)*

    8T. CNN (10/30-11/1)

    8T. Ipsos/McClatchy (10/30-11/1)

    10. DailyKos.com (D)/Research 2000 (11/1-3)

    ----------------

    (If you're below DailyKos, you don't deserve to be taken seriously for another four years. Better luck in 2012.)

    11. AP/Yahoo/KN (10/17-27)

    12. Democracy Corps (D) (10/30-11/2)

    13. FOX (11/1-2)

    14. Economist/YouGov (10/25-27)

    15. IBD/TIPP (11/1-3)

    16. NBC/WSJ (11/1-2)

    17. ABC/Post (10/30-11/2)

    18. Marist College (11/3)

    19. CBS (10/31-11/2)

    20. Gallup (10/31-11/2)

    21. Reuters/ C-SPAN/ Zogby (10/31-11/3)

    22. CBS/Times (10/25-29)

    23. Newsweak (10/22-23)

  • RSS Redskins Insider

Plant?

Posted on March 4, 2008 by Riley

Conservativa takes note of a new blog on the right in the Virginia blogosphere and speculates as to whether it may actually be a plant meant to serve a candidate somewhere down the line.  Also taking note are Bearing Drift and Scott’s Morning Brew.  I do have to admit that they may be on to something after having reviewed that site myself.  (No, we won’t give it away as that would only increase traffic to it.)

Filed under: Blogging, Virginia Politics

« »

8 Responses

  1. J’s Notes » Smelling A Rat In The Virginia Blogosphere, on March 4th, 2008 at 2:17 pm Said:

    [...] Jim Hoeft and Jim Riley all have brief takes as [...]

  2. James Young, on March 4th, 2008 at 4:24 pm Said:

    Oh, c’mon, Jim! How’s a reader supposed to assess the validity of your comments if he cannot compare them to the material at issue?

  3. Riley, on March 4th, 2008 at 4:37 pm Said:

    Well, this is more a word to the wise. Besides, if it turns out to be a legitimate site, I don’t want to unfairly impugn it by naming it.

  4. mytwocents, on March 4th, 2008 at 5:18 pm Said:

    It is downright silly to warn others about a so called blog when no one is willing to go on record identifiying it. Lets see it and let the readers decide for themselves. If no one is willing to identify it then we are dwelling on innuendo and rumor and that does not do anygood for anyone. This really discredits the blogosphere.

  5. Riley, on March 4th, 2008 at 6:57 pm Said:

    Actually, I think that is what the bloggers I have communicated with are afraid of. A blog that is set up in advance by a potential candidate for an office and then once established is used to further that candidate or tear down his opposition. That certainly would discredit the blogosphere.

  6. mytwocents, on March 4th, 2008 at 9:13 pm Said:

    I completely agree, It is scary to think that a blog could be a plant from a campaign but I do believe the blog should be exposed to the rest of the blogosphere for our examination. I would just like to see this exposed to the blogging community and all can decide if its a fraud. It cannot hurt anyone since the blog is supposedly anonymous.

    Using a supposed community politcal blog to advance ones political ambitions is nothing new here in Virginia unfortunately. I believe its happened more times than I care to mention. Every campaign wants to get the edge by creating the perception to the media that their candidate is stronger in the blogosphere. The problem especially in democratic ciricles and also in GOP circles to a much lesser extent is that sometimes perception does not match the current political reality, thus we have the art of artificial manipulation.

  7. Riley, on March 4th, 2008 at 9:56 pm Said:

    Excellent points. As far as the particular suspect blog, I’m going to wait and see what else I can find out before deciding whether to release the name of it.

  8. Jason, on March 5th, 2008 at 9:29 am Said:

    Allow me to share my thoughts that I just posted on Bearing Drift:

    From the response to my post, I’ve found that not naming the blog actually helps the conversation.

    Many people have come back to me asking if it is this blog or that blog because the point is making people have to truly evaluate the source behind those sites. THAT is what is at issue here, folks, transparency in blogging and what it means to the blogosphere as a whole. Again, it’s not about one blog specifically but a type of blogging generally. One blog just happened to get the ball rolling on this.

    Many of us who have been blogging a while know this type of blog. The anonymous blog that pops up, spewing fire, seeking glory, but never willing to reveal the man behind the curtain. Now sometimes that curtain exists for a good reason: protection of employment and more. But most of the time it’s merely to shield the anon blogger from any blowback from their “splash and trash” blogging. These blogs exist not to add to the quality of the blogosphere but to hope and pray for that one hit that will be the next Macaca. And if we’re not willing to watch for it ourselves we’re going to allow the blogosphere to become defined by sites like this and degrade the medium as a whole.

Leave a Reply