I admit I was being a bit of an ass there. But that was good practice. All these conservatives read from the same talking points. On a blog, you’re not on the spot to have you best points ready immediately. You can think before responding.

So i called a local show called The Flipside today. The host had earlier claimed the CBS poll was invalid because more Democrats were polled than Republicans. I’m very comfortable because I can counter any of the talking point he’s likely to bring up. I didn’t record the call, and it probably didn’t come through as well as I thought, but this is my best recollection of the details:

Told the host I was calling about the CBS poll that showed a 34% approval rating for GW. The host repeated his criticism - more Democrats than Republicans polled. I asked if he had read 14 page PDF CBS released describing the statistical methods used. He still doesn’t know if I’m on his side or not, so he answers no. I tell him that when polls are conducted randomly, you always get responses from a sample that doesn’t exactly represent the population. And if you’re honest, you take that into account with statistics. And I say that’s exactly what CBS did.

He’s on the spot now. He says “Oh they did?” I say, yeah, you probably shouldn’t criticize the statistical methods used in a poll if you don’t know what you’re talking about [I should have come up with something better here]. He says he took statistics in college. I say you must have gone to [Texas] A&M. [We’re in Austin, that’ll go over big with listeners]. He says he just believes the poll was biased [the same thing I heard on the right wing blog earlier in the week]. I ask if he believes the poll was biased or if he has evidence the poll was biased.

I know I’m going to get cut off soon. They’re talking over me. I should have raised my voice. I go for the money and say You and Oprah stick to your feelings, I’ll stick to the facts [totally obnoxious, i know]. He hangs up. I quickly turn my radio back on. He’s in spin mode saying that CBS probably over represented Independents too (!?). Says I’m crazy and he can’t believe he took my call. And that he can’t believe I compared him to Oprah - I’m happy because this confirms that my last comment didn’t get cut off.