Dean takes NH lead in Globe poll

It may very well be the most bizarre, most biased story of this election cycle thus far. A Boston Herald story leads with the title, "Poll: Kerry has N.H. edge: Dems see senator as `electable'".

Fair enough, Kerry has led every single NH poll to date, it wouldn't be surprising to see Kerry maintaining that lead. Especially with the hometown paper boosting his candidacy.

The story's has this lede:

Vaulted into the top tier of Democratic presidential hopefuls by his tough, anti-war rhetoric, Howard Dean still can't convince New Hampshire voters he can beat President Bush, a new Boston Sunday Herald poll shows.

Then the story continues:

Democratic primary voters in the Herald poll put Dean, the former Vermont governor, and U.S. Sen. John F. Kerry of Massachusetts in a deadlocked race for the first-in-the-nation primary - set for six months from today.

Voters say Kerry, boosted by strong foreign-policy credentials, is far better equipped to reclaim the White House, the poll shows.

"Although the Dean message is a popular one, Kerry is perceived as having more experience in foreign policy and is seen as more electable,'' said Herald pollster R. Kelly Myers.

It isn't until the ninth graf that we finally get to the actual poll results, and the numbers make a mockery of the preceeding eight paragraphs:

In the Herald poll of likely New Hampshire primary voters, Dean takes 28 percent of the vote and Kerry 25 percent while a second tier of candidates lagged behind, U.S. Sen. Joseph Lieberman of Connecticut at 11 percent and U.S. Rep. Richard Gephardt (D-Mo.) at 9 percent.

So yeah, Dean has a lead in New Hampshire, despite the tone of the article (which must've been written by Chris Lehane himself under the "David R. Guarino" pseudonym).

Yes, the lead is statistically insignificant (and the nearly 5% MOE makes the poll suspect). And I won't believe that Dean really leads in the Granite State until I see at least two more polls confirming the numbers.

But the Herald got this one wrong. Their local boy, according to their poll, is falling behind in the must-win state. Headlining the article "Kerry has N.H. edge" is beyond ridiculous.

Posted July 28, 2003 01:13 AM