The Tampa Trib’s very bad math on the Mack/Nelson race

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This is what’s currently up on the Tampa Tribune‘s political blog, “Mack closes to 3 points.”

Such news would be most welcomed by Connie Mack’s campaign. That’s because the poll actually shows Mack down by 13 points, as mentioned in the copy of the blog post.

Still, this is the headline originally posted (the post has since been updated), meaning this is how the story was Facebooked, Tweeted and showed up on Google. Suddenly a race that was all but over is within the margin of error.

But it’s the Tribune‘s math that is the real error.

Peter Schorsch is the President of Extensive Enterprises and is the publisher of some of Florida’s most influential new media websites, including SaintPetersBlog.com, FloridaPolitics.com, ContextFlorida.com, and Sunburn, the morning read of what’s hot in Florida politics. SaintPetersBlog has for three years running been ranked by the Washington Post as the best state-based blog in Florida. In addition to his publishing efforts, Peter is a political consultant to several of the state’s largest governmental affairs and public relations firms. Peter lives in St. Petersburg with his wife, Michelle, and their daughter, Ella.