Monday, May 2
Welcome to beat the press
Round-the-clock news coverage and a national election with crucial issues in play make for both a great story and a lot of hot air. Five students working on their senior projects, in fact, decided that the hot air was the great story. Sampling the predictions of 26 columnists and talking heads across the political spectrum, the seniors — Russ Doubleday, Scott Hefferman, Evan Klondar, Kate Tummarello and Holly Donaldson (from left), working with P. Gary Wyckoff (inset), professor of government and director of the Public Policy Program — studied the pundits’ political and economic forecasts over 16 months of the 2007-08 campaign season. One finding? Only nine of the 26 could do better than a coin toss in their predictions. (Find the full report at www.hamilton.edu/news/polls/pundit.)
