Did Kerry Team Engineer Exit Polling Scam?

Thanks to Wizbang Blog again, I came across this intriguing piece in The American Spectator by “The Prowler,” reporting that Kerry operatives generated false polling numbers, or numbers that were to appear as the actual early exit polling data. These numbers were then supposedly laundered through several sources on their way to sympathetic bloggers who would publicize the data. They did, according to the article, and panic set in.

When the actual, albeit still highly distorted, exit polling numbers came out the president was still way behind in swing states and nationally, but not as badly as in the completely fabricated numbers.

This is scary to me, as we can see just how much impact highly controlled information can have. Aside from this Democratic spin horror story, the inaccuracy of the exit polling data itself demands our attention (and correction) before the next major election. It would suit me just fine if they dispensed with this kind of polling altogether. As we can see, it is too susceptible to sophisticated techniques of manipulation and spinning. Someone has some serious explaining to do, not just in the Kerry campaign, but in the exit polling operation proper. This shouldn’t be so mysterious and there needs to be genuine checks and balances implemented if this system, or any part of it, is to remain.