ROTHENBURGER – Gut instinct might still be the best election poll of all

Posted on October 12, 2019 in Armchair Mayor, Page One, Rothenburger // 0 Comments

John DeCicco and one of his Barbershop Polls.
That’s the Armchair Mayor in the mirror, taking the picture.

WHILE THE REST OF US make election predictions based on the science of gut instinct, idle speculation and wishful thinking, there are actual experts at work using more sophisticated means.

They’re called pollsters. Over the past few elections they lost a lot of their credibility with some wildly inaccurate predictions. As the old landline faded from its place as the number one way we communicate, the pollsters fell behind.

I’m not sure they’ve gotten much better.

I’ll never forget the B.C. provincial election of 2013, when every pollster on the planet was predicting a relatively easy NDP win. Only John DeCicco got it right.

John, of course, used to run his “Barber’s Poll” at the Continental Barber Shop.

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Mel Rothenburger is a former mayor of Kamloops and former newspaper editor. He publishes the ArmchairMayor.ca opinion website, writes five commentaries a week for CFJC and is a director on the Thompson-Nicola Regional District board. He can be reached at mrothenburger@armchairmayor.ca.