Yes, it's way too early to make any predictions, but then, pollsters and pundits wouldn't have anything to write about which means they'd be out of a job for a year or so.Actually, the value of predictions today is relevant to the current political debate over health care. Leading analysts who gauge the mood of the public on a month to month, even week to week basis, see outliers that may - or may not - be indicative of trends. Trends represent long term outlooks rather than the "snapshot" that polls generally give us. Get enough snapshots of how people are thinking, and you can trace how people are feeling about an issue on a graph. That's the essence of strategic polling and politicians - even this far out from the 2010 election - ignore the information at their own peril.So when several of the best analysts in the industry examine the trendlines, as well as the 50-60 congressional districts where vulnerable members from both parties are fighting to remain in office, they...(Read Full Post)