As was recently pointed out in our Wire section pointing to a Michelle Malkin column, there appears to be some discrepancy between the MSM estimate of 200,000 rapt and attentive listeners to Barack Obama at Berlin's Siegessäule (Victory Column) and what was estimated at the time by the German television -- and people in the crowd.
The "official" number of 200,000 people, which the MSM has touted in headlines all across the world, appears to be inflated by a factor of 10. While the networks and major newspapers continue to shill for the candidate, determined to portray his as the Obamessiah, it falls mostly upon the internet to set right the facts.
From World Politics Review we get this:
The estimates given by German public television ZDF actually during the event, however, were as little as one-tenth of that number. ZDF began its special "Obama in Berlin" coverage [German video] at 6:45 p.m. Central European Time: only 15 minutes before the candidate's speech was scheduled to start. At the time, ZDF reporter Susanne Gelhard was out and about on the so-called "Fan Mile" between the Victory Column and the Brandenburg Gate. "The expectations were highly varied," she said in her live report, "from a few thousand up to a million. Those were the estimates. But, now, several tens of thousands have turned out." Barely five minutes before the speech was supposed to start, ZDF Berlin studio chief Peter Frey added, "We do estimate that 20,000 [literally, "a couple of ten thousand"] people have turned out."
Having covered events at that structure before, ZDF could not help but note that pedestrian traffic appeared to be moving unimpeded along the boulevard, and the crowd was easily and quickly dispersed after the event.
But what's in a number? 200,000 or 20,000 or just 20, what does it matter how many adoring fans turned out to listen? As Abraham Lincoln once said, "The world will little remember what is said here today..." In the case of Obama, at least, Lincoln was right.
Then, there is the issue concerning the exact number of states in the Union. While many of us were taught (those that took History -- in a private school) that there were but 50 states, Obama told a crowd in Oregon "...it is just wonderful to be back in Oregon, and over the last 15 months we've traveled to every corner of the United States. I've now been in fifty-seven states. I think one left to go. One left to go. Alaska and Hawaii, I was not allowed to go to even thought I really wanted to visit but my staff would not justify it."
Wait a minute here. ..Alaska and Hawaii? Does that mean there are fifty-eight states or fifty-nine, if he has visited all but one, but lists two to which his handlers have not allowed him to travel?
What's in a number?
About that same time, at another campaign stop, Obama mentioned a devastating typhoon in Myanmar that killed, in his words "100 million people." The same crew that counted his German Victory Column speech must have been surveying the destruction in Burma, since the official estimate put the death toll closer to 100,000.
Since those gaffes occurred back in May, virtually all MSM coverage of them have managed to disappear from Google or Yahoo searches. That assumed of course that the MSM ever acknowledged the gaffes in the first place. More often than not, it has fallen upon lowly internet bloggers to even report on such mistakes. Leave it to bloggers to make a mountain out of a molehill, right?
What's in a number?
One set of numbers that the MSM consistently finds interesting is Opinion Polling. Well, that is to say, the MSM finds opinion polls of interest when it reinforces their own preconceived opinion.
Recent polling, for instance, has shown that John McCain and Barack Obama have been virtually tied in polling for the presidential election in November. While Obama has consistently had a 2-5 point advantage, the two have been well within the margin of error for most of the Spring and Summer.
Real Clear Politics.com for instance, which is far better than any single poll in determining the current opinion climate of the electorate, has the spread at 46.3 to 41.7 or an Obama advantage of +4.6.
Interestingly enough, at this point in previous election cycles, President's Dukakis, Gore and Kerry all held 15 to 20 point leads over their vanquished Republican foes at this time of year.
But HEY! What's in a number, anyways?
just more numbers.
:)
Fighting for conservatism one day at a time.