By Denis Campbell
Matt, Tom and Oreo (not their real names and as far as you will get) are data gathering wonks that have been anonymously producing the best political blog of the last 18-months. Want to know who is getting what cabinet position? Need a department scorecard? They have it and it can all be easily exported to a spreadsheet. They tracked state delegations and provided the most in-depth look at the convention and the most accurate ‘guesstimate’ of the result.
Back when I broke the Democratic Superdelegate story in January (Why Your Primary Vote May Only Be Worth .6 of a Vote) and long before folks started to focus on the convoluted Democratic Party process. Matt and the boys were compiling and polling them from dozens of sources. When we started to wonder who they were, their significance to the selection process and how they were leaning, the source data here was second to none. They were my main source (along with a very nice reporter at WCCO in Minneapolis).
They did and continue to do the heavy unglamourous lifting, mostly stay away from voicing too strong an opinion and, like Nate Silver over at fivethirtyeight.com (always spell it out, don’t give the squatting sleazebag at the number site the benefit of traffic) provided good solid data for those of us in the media desperate for good sources.
So a shout out to matt, whoever you are. Glad to see you are still around and wish you and the lads a great 2009 and beyond. We need more like you mate!
