No Mystery

First of all, I need to clear up one bit of unintended mystery. As of today, my real name appears on the right sidebar as “editor” and in the author line at the end of each post. I never intended to remain anonymous here – my real name was listed under the “about” link or the right all along. I know many bloggers prefer anonymity, but given the subject matter, I think you deserve a full disclosure. Click “about” for all the gory details.

So why call this Mystery Pollster? That was the anonymous alias blogger Mickey Kaus gave me when he printed excerpts from emails I sent him. Kaus always knew my name; he just chose to keep it off the record. When I decided to start blogging it seemed natural to keep the name. I like the ring of it, especially the play on “demystifying,” and the subtle homage to Kaus, who kindly alerted the blogosphere to this blog’s existence. Obviously, the irony was a bit too subtle. Sorry for any misunderstanding.

One other bit of housekeeping. In my first post, I badly misread a quotation from Al Hunt; I should have praised him for being among the few to discuss sampling error appropriately. I’ve corrected the error on the original post. Apologies to all.

Many of you have emailed with great questions. I’ll try to start answering a few later this afternoon. Thanks to everyone who sent emails. Again, please feel free to email me with any topics you’d like to see discussed. I’m getting to them, I promise!