All three Democratic presidential losses in the Eighties were caused by centrism.

[Ken Burch]

291. The massive grassroots demand that Teddy, with all his flaws, should challenge Carter for the nom

is proof. The polls prioritizing a fight against unemployment over the rich man's fixation with inflation and the deficit is proof. The polls that showed Kennedy beating Reagan while Carter trailed him(for a long period of time)are proof.

You don't get reelected when you deepen a recession, and cut social services, increase the war budget, restart draft registration(at a time when there was no situation, including Afghanistan, where a large U.S. troop commitment could have achieved anything) and put the comfort of a despicable overthrown despot ahead of the security of U.S. embassy personnel, all within a year-and-a-half of Election Day...at least not when you're trying to get re-elected as a Democrat. It wasn't even remotely possible to get majority support for an incumbent Dem who did all of that.

And polls don't always convey reality. They're subjective, can be manipulated to produce a desiredresult, and often take too long to conduct to catch quick shifts in public opinion. Polls are just guesses disguised with statistics in many, many cases.