Polling is a Matter of Perspective

A horse-race political poll is nothing more than a snapshot in time, the political pros say; and, if so, candidates and their campaigns never hesitate to do their own Photoshop work to alter that snapshot to their liking.

Take the latest poll on the Ohio gubernatorial contest from Rasmussen Reports, a New York City polling firm that tracks state and national races.

Rasmussen's Jan. 3 survey of 500 likely Ohio voters showed Democrat Ted Strickland ahead of all three of the declared Republican candidates for governor.

Strickland, the poll said, holds a four per cent lead over Ohio Secretary of State , Ken Blackwell, a five percent lead over Ohio Attorney General Jim Petro, and a whopping 16 percent lead over State Auditor Betty Montgomery.

The Strickland campaign, as might be expected, put out a press release crowing that the Democratic congressman from Lisbon could clearly lick any one of the GOP contenders.

That was followed a day later by a release from the Blackwell campaign saying the Rasmussen poll numbers showed clearly that Strickland's four percent lead was proof positive that Blackwell was the strongest possible candidate the Republicans could field for governor - despite the fact that Petro was only a percentage point behind.

With a margin of error of 4.5 percent, Blackwell's numbers were just inside the margin and Petro's numbers just outside, indicating that either one of them would give Strickland a run for his money.

The gubernatorial election is 10 months away and, of course, none of the above-mentioned candidates are assured of winning the May 2 primary. Neither the Strickland nor the Blackwell campaigns pointed out another old maxim of politics - the only poll that counts is on election day.