On Inauguration Eve - to prove Bush "really" won this time - Warren Mitofsky published his analysis of why the exit polls that showed Kerry won were "wrong." He offered four hypotheses:

• Distance restrictions from polling places imposed upon the interviewers by election officials at the state and local level.
• Weather conditions, which lowered completion rates at certain polling locations.
• Multiple precincts voting at the same location as the precinct in the exit poll sample.
• Interviewer characteristics, such as age, which were more often related to the errors last year than in past elections.

After reading the 77-page document, Stop_George of Newsclip Autopsy discovered one teensy-tiny flaw with Mitofsky's self-criticism.

Even if all of these factors had been "fixed," Mitofsky's own numbers show KERRY STILL WON!

Has Mitofsky proven that these variables account for the significant discrepancy between the exit poll numbers and the actual results of the election?

That answer is a BIG RESOUNDING "NO".

According to Mitofsky's results, there would STILL be a significant discrepancy even if all of his recommendations were followed. Why no mention of this extremely important detail? The silence, as we say, is deafening.

A crude analogy would be to say that a bowl of sh*t would taste bad because one put too much pepper on it. However, I think we would all agree that if we take away the pepper, it would still taste bad. (I hope no one argues with me on that particular detail).

So remember: When the editorials from the mainstream give you the pablum that it has been proven by Mitofsky that the exit poll discrepancy was a result of Republicans not wanting to participate (due to the variables listed above) -- please write them and set them straight!!! THERE IS STILL AN "UNACCOUNTED FOR" DISCREPANCY.

I would love for Dr. Freeman to do another follow-up to his yet unrefuted research, showing that these variables listed by Mitofsky do not adequately account for the overall significant discrepancy between the exit polls and the official election results. I'm sure we will hear from him soon!

Mitofsky (and the mainstream media) still assume that there was no significant COUNTING ERROR (malicious or benign). The evidence of widespread irregularites across the U.S. and, most notably, in Ohio, paints Mitofsky (and the press) as being a bit naive (or careless) in this regard. As he states in his report:

It is difficult to pinpoint precisely the reasons that, in general, Kerry voters were more likely to participate in the exit polls than Bush voters. There were certainly motivational factors that are impossible to quantify, but which led to Kerry voters being less likely than Bush voters to refuse to take the survey.

How about this reason: More people voted for Kerry than what was officially recognized.

In other words, KERRY REALLY WON!