Lies, Damned Lies and Statistics... and more Lies

So, if there's lies, damned lies and statistics... what do we call it when the statistics are baloney?

The state of the Tierney-Tisei campaign, from the Salem News, reveals this tidbit on the two campaigns' dueling polls:

Tierney's camp, however, said the GOP poll "has a double-digit Republican bias," noting that the same poll showed U.S. Sen. Scott Brown with "an implausible 24-point lead" over Democratic rival Elizabeth Warren. Statewide, the two are virtually tied. 

In fact, the GOP poll does have elevated Republican representation, GOP poll author John McLaughlin said in an email to The Salem News.

Now, I have no idea who is 'winning' this race, but when a campaign releases a poll that shows it's 'up' by doubling the size of Republicans in the poll, that's just making shit up.

Given how expensive polls are, there aren't likely to be many good polls in this race going forward, but it's always a good bet to take what the candidates have to say on the horse-race stuff with a grain of salt. Especially the media.