ABSTRACT
It has certainly guided me as a journalist. When CNN hired me many years ago to be the network’s political analyst, I naturally wondered what the job entailed. The network had reporters whose job it was to find out what was going on. It also had commentators-people like Patrick Buchanan and Jesse Jackson-whose job was to say, “That’s what’s going on. Here is what I think.” The job of an analyst is different. It is to say, “That’s what’s going on, and here is what it means.” I am an explainer. No one cares about my opinions. Whatever I say on the air has to have facts behind it. Whenever I make a claim, I have to be able to back it up with evidence. In our book, Marty and I dealt extensively with polling data. I have continued to do that as a journalist-always looking at the data cautiously and skeptically, as Marty taught me to do. Polling is
William Schneider researches politics, the presidency, and public opinion for CNN. He is also contributing editor to The Atlantic Monthly, National Journal, and The Los Angeles Times. He is co-author of many articles, and given congressional testimony on a wide variety of topics. He is the co-author of The Confidence Gap: Business, Labor and Government in the Public Mind.
