Haw haw haw..... is this an act of desperation or what?

Link: http://www.newsmax.com/archives/ic/2004/5/29/213747.shtml

A wingnut just posted this headline on another allegedly non-political forum I visit and I burst out laughing after reading the article. The headline reads "Bush leads Kerry by six points in Ohio". Now, to me that implies that a cross-section of Ohio voters were surveyed and maybe several thousand voters were contacted. Not so. The article goes on to point out that only 1500 people were surveyed. After giving it some thought, it occurred to me that about 1500 might be an average draw for a Smirky rally. And if these "pollsters" asked their questions at the door to the venue where said rally were to be held the percentages might be right considering the number of repubs that have openly voiced their disfavor with Shit-for-Brains. They ought to see the MSNBC poll if they want numbers. Last I saw, it was Kerry 66%, Shithead 33%, with a couple of hundred thousand people voting.

...an Ohio poll printed in the Columbus Dispatch showed Kerry in the lead.

I've taken phone polls before, not on politics but on product usage. The questions were so slanted that it was obvious what answers they were wanting. I figure that the accuracy of a poll depends on a lot of factors, one being the question(s) being asked, another being who was chosen to be polled.

to the ones before it, I wait for a second poll for confirmation.

A few weeks back, one poll in California had Kerry with a mere 1 point lead over Bush. Rather than have a fit, I just waited for more polls. Sure enough, the next polls had Kerry with a 12 point and 15 point lead, respectively. The same principle was applied to the Wisconsin poll which showed Bush with a 12 point lead over Kerry. It turned out to be an anomaly.

If another poll comes from OH that has Bush with a comfortable lead over Kerry, then you can start worrying. Until then, relax. :)

Hasn't that BBVoting machine guy already promised Ohio to Bush?

The usual number of people asked is 1000 - even in nationwide surveys. (and yes, it is mathematically sound)

...to find out who conducted the poll and what their methodology was.
For such a headline-making result they sure are ignoring it so far.

http://www.mason-dixon.com/latest.cfm

They don't show the methodology of any of their polls...indeed all I found were links to newspaper stories citing their polls.
Any pollster who isn't up-front about the methodology isn't worthy of notice. All I could learn from visiting the site is that for $150 bucks Mason-Dixon will sell you the poll results you want.

Bottom line: Kerry still leads in Ohio until a real poll says otherwise!