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Brainster's Blog — ... He got a lot of attention for his interesting charts and graphs, but like a lot of math-oriented folks, he doesn't analyze things other than numbers very well: ...

The Con Bubble
Oliver Willis — ... Nate Silver discusses how the world of talk radio has hurt conservatism. It’s very true. The right has constructed an alternate reality, and been so succesful at creating this alternate reality that they choose it over reality. ...

Will Rush Go Down Too?
The Mahablog — ... Today everyone’s favorite nerd, Nate Silver, has more good insight as to why talk radio, and the Right in general, is going down. You need to read Nate’s entire post to get all the nuances of his argument. But he makes these key observations: ...

No More Mister Nice Blog — ... Nate Silver talks about right-wing talk radio in a post titled "Did Talk Radio Kill Conservatism?" I think he's on to something, but I'm not sure I agree that stimulation is the key concept here -- not exactly: ...

Polling Guru Silver Reflects On Right-Winger Curse Out
Politics on HuffingtonPost.com — Over at FiveThirtyEight.com, Nate Silver digs down a little deeper into his recent awkward interview with John Ziegler, who had Zogby put a poll out in the field in an attempt to prove that Obama voters were, by nature, uninformed about politics. That interview ended with Ziegler givin' Silver the Cheney! SILVER: Thank you, have a good day. ZIEGLER: Go fuck yourself. Woo! Banter! Anyhoo, today, Silver did his best to get some sort of appreciation of Ziegler's response to his interview, and the thought process behind the ...

Polling Guru Silver Reflects On Right-Winger Curse Out
The Huffington Post | Full News Feed — Over at FiveThirtyEight.com, Nate Silver digs down a little deeper into his recent awkward interview with John Ziegler, who had Zogby put a poll out in the field in an attempt to prove that Obama voters were, by nature, uninformed about politics. That interview ended with Ziegler givin' Silver the Cheney! SILVER: Thank you, have a good day. ZIEGLER: Go fuck yourself. Woo! Banter! Anyhoo, today, Silver did his best to get some sort of appreciation of Ziegler's response to his interview, and the thought process behind the ...

Fascinating article on talk radio and the Conservative mindset
Corrente — 538.com. Read more…

Friday's Mini-Report
Political Animal — ... , culminating in the local district attorney screaming at the judge in open court. * Did talk radio kill conservatism? Nate Silver has a fascinating piece on the difference between "stimulating" political discourse and "persuasive" political discourse. Anything to add? Consider this an open thread.— ...

Verdict is in: Zogby poll supposedly demonstrating Obama voters' 'ignorance' was a joke
Crooks and Liars — ... reason, failed to pick up these falsehoods and loudly broadcast them as factual. There is a reason, for instance, why the Biden plagiarism story didn't get a lot of play: While it is true that the story hurt Biden enough in the primaries he was eventually forced out, the fact that he was cleared afterward of the charges makes the story largely irrelevant -- except as a cautionary tale about promoting groundless smears in mainstream news reports. Meanwhile, Nate has some deeper thoughts on the meaning of all this. ...

catching some z's
skippy the bush kangaroo — ... nate then muses on the whole fiasco, wondering if the very nature of talk radio is actually detrimental to conservatism; mainly the emphasis on stimulation over persuasion, which makes conservatives unable (or at least unwilling) to try to convince someone who doesn't share their point of view: ...

A Study In Ignorance: Voters And Would-Be Pollsters
Open Left - Front Page — ... , containing an interview with the propagandist involved, John Ziegler, who quickly lapsed into ad hominem attacks and vulgar invective.  After a pause, Nate posted a third diary, reflecting on the exchange and exploring the notion that the propagandist's background in talk radio reflected something fundamental about how movement conservatism had lost touch with the art of persuasion. ...

It Was The Result, Not The GOP Politics that Did Them In
TalkLeft — ... This is just wrong. Republican politics failed because Republican policies failed. Similarly, Nate Silver argues the GOP lost the art of persuasion ...

Why this holiday season will be stressful
pandagon.net - these things don't just blame themselves — ... Nate Silver analyzes his hilarious and disturbing interview with John Ziegler, and concludes that the problem with conservative pundits and other persuasion professionals is they don’t even know how to persuade anymore.  Their every waking moment is dedicated to rousing the base with Pavlovian catch-phrases, and as such, the ability to reason and discuss has withered completely. ...