It's still early, but already New York Republicans in the ballroom are filled with foreboding. Exit polls show Sen. Alfonse D'Amato down by as much as 10 points. Immediately the rumor spreads through the ballroom: The exit-polling company has messed up the sample! The results are so unreliable, TV stations nationwide are throwing out the whole batch of results! That's the officially approved scuttlebutt, anyway.
But there are signs the rumor is baloney. One D'Amato staffer insists that the exit polls are contradicted by the "anecdotal evidence." And besides, the poll numbers are from New York City, where D'Amato is notoriously weak. And . . . and . . .
Why is this guy spinning the exit polls? It's too late. Spinning after the polls close can't do any good. But fish gotta swim, birds gotta fly, and a staffer's gotta spin. Deep down he knows the truth. When a friend introduces him as "a D'Amato staffer," he mumbles: "Well, for a few more hours."
Reported by the staff of THE WEEKLY STANDARD