The lying media have taken a phrase from David Plouffe and blown it up into something he did not say, so that Republicans and Democrats both can pretend that everything was Kamala Harris' fault

 David Plouffe said the campaign did not ever have Harris in the lead specifically in late September and early October in their internal polling, and that this was only his recollection about a period one month before the election.

The guy must have had literally hundreds of polls in his head from throughout the campaign.

When we got in, my recollection is some of that [Biden deficit] snapped back, but you know, we were behind. I mean, I think it surprised people because there was these public polls that came out in late September, early October, showing us with leads that we never saw. You know, I mean, it was just basically a race that in the battlegrounds was 46-47, 47-48. So that’s not where we started. We started behind. She was able to climb out.

Here.

Yes, they were behind, big time, in July and August.

But they climbed out indeed, to the point Harris led for the first time by Aug 29 in the public polling averages, and she retook the lead three times in September after losing it in her duel with Trump. 

And Harris kept her Sep 18 lead all the way to Sep 29 when Trump overtook her one last time. 

After that she never got the lead back again.

Should we be surprised Plouffe's internal polling from late September and early October never showed Harris leading?

Of course not. His internal polling showed him exactly what Real Clear's averages were showing us.

Dishonest media are trying to make Harris look as bad as possible by taking Plouffe's comments to mean she was never ahead at any time in the campaign's internal polling.

That's not what Plouffe said.

Harris Campaign's Polls Never Showed Her Leading Trump

Arthur Delaney, HuffPost

 

 

Harris for the win Aug 29

 

Harris for the win Sep 4

Harris for the win Sep 13

Harris for the win Sep 18

Real Clear Polling averages showed that Democrats' so-called Blue Wall had already fallen by Oct 18th, just when Gretchen Whitmer rode to the rescue with its liberal governors in tow

 Of course David Plouffe didn't see leads in the internal polling in early Oct. They were disappearing. 

RCP polling averages moved PA to Trump by Sep 30th, MI by Oct 9th, NV by Oct 12th, and WI by Oct 18th.

The Blue Wall was entirely down by Oct 18th, which would be the final outcome, despite MI and WI flipping back to Harris at the end of October.

Democrats were already dead on Oct 18th. They just didn't know it yet when they showed up at it.

 

Oct 17th

 

Oct 18th

So the Harris campaign's David Plouffe saw public polls showing they might be ahead in early October when Real Clear Politics showed that Harris' last lead ended September 29th

. . . there was these public polls that came out in late September, early October, showing us with leads that we never saw.

 

Here. 

 

I'm scratching my head over that, but I think everyone's focusing on a fiction of their own making. Plouffe never said they never saw Harris ahead in their internal polling at all, only during the period in question.

 

In the public polling, Harris went ahead in the averages on August 30th and duked it out with Trump throughout September, with the lead changing hands six times. Plouffe can't be talking about that.

 

It would make sense that their internal polling never showed a lead in early October, because it had already disappeared by then.

 

Nevertheless, Harris had recaptured Michigan and Wisconsin by the end of October in the polling averages, even though Trump retained his lead in the Electoral College.

 

I think Plouffe's memory of early October is just a little faulty.

 

That's all.

 

September 19th Harris ahead with 276

September 29th Trump ahead 281

Disinformation Election Headlines at Real Clear Politics Repudiated by Republican Tsunami

Compare Walter Shapiro's "The Democratic Debacle" at Politics Daily today here:

America has seen tidal wave off-year elections before (three, in fact, in the past 16 years). But what was epic about the glub-glub election of 2010 is that even with months of warning most imperiled Democrats could not find high enough ground.

In the House, Republicans gained a minimum of 60 seats, dethroning Nancy Pelosi as House speaker, probably making this the GOP's biggest off-year triumph since (gulp!) 1938 once all the votes are counted.


And these headlines from Real Clear Politics, which admittedly disappeared rather suddenly in early October, for a good belly laugh on this historic day for America:

Saturday, October 9, 2010: Dem: Election Won't Be So Bad After All - Tim Fernholz, American Prospect

Friday, October 1, 2010: Democrats Will Hold the House and Senate - Bob Shrum, The Week

Wednesday, Sept. 22, 2010: Why the Generic Ballot May Underestimate Dems - Nate Silver, NY Times

Tuesday, Sept. 21, 2010: GOP Has Tough Road to Win House - Martin Frost, Politico

Monday, Sept. 20, 2010: Tying GOP to Tea Parties is D's Best Hope - Michael Tomasky, The Guardian

Sunday, Sept. 19, 2010: Don't Forget That the Bailouts Worked - Fareed Zakaria, Newsweek [If they had worked we'd know it and wouldn't need to be reminded. After all, we are paying for it right now . . . and Will. Be. Forever.]

Sunday, Sept. 19, 2010: Landslide Midterm is Hardly Certain - Charles Blow, New York Times [Did we mention a landslide is hardly certain?]

Saturday, Sept. 18, 2010: Landslide Midterm is Hardly Certain - Charles Blow, New York Times

Friday, Sept. 17, 2010: Faustian Deal w/Tea Party Will Cost GOP Dearly - Bob Shrum, The Week [Hahahahahahahaha!]

Thursday, Sept. 16, 2010: David Plouffe: Tea Parties Help Democrats - Lloyd Grove, The Daily Beast [Yeah right, when pigs fly in formation]

Wednesday, Sept. 15, 2010: Pelosi: Democrats "Absolutely" Will Retain the House - The Hill [When pigs fly upside down]

Sunday, Sept. 12, 2010: Maybe All Isn't Lost for Democrats - Dick Polman, Philadelphia Inquirer

Sunday, Sept. 12, 2010: Democrats Can Win the House - Ben Crair, The Daily Beast [When pigs fly]

Saturday, Sept. 11, 2010: 10 Things Dems Could Do to Win - Thomas Geoghegan, The Nation [No. 10: Become Republicans]

Friday, Sept. 10, 2010: Dems' Gloom May Be Premature - David Corn, Politics Daily

Thursday, Sept. 9, 2010: It's Good to Have Obama on the Campaign Trail - Gene Lyons, Salon

Thursday, Sept. 9, 2010: Dem Strategists Pooh-Pooh the Polls - Dana Milbank, Washington Post

Thursday, Sept. 2, 2010: Democrats Doomed? Not So Fast - Susan Estrich, Creators