MediaHerd observed some deep insight from America’s own “Prince of Darkness” aka Robert Novak this morning where he reflected on the potential “Bradley Effect” with respect to Sen. Obama’s loss in Pennsylvania.  According to Prince Novak:

When exit polls for the Pennsylvania primary came out late Tuesday afternoon showing a puny lead of 3.6 points for Hillary Clinton against Barack Obama, Democratic leaders who desperately wanted her to end her candidacy were not cheered. They were sure that this overstated Sen. Obama’s strength, as exit polls nearly always have in urban, diverse states. How was it possible, then, that Sen. Clinton, given up for dead by her party’s establishment, won Pennsylvania in a 10-point landslide? The answer is the dreaded Bradley Effect.

MediaHerd can’t help but speculate that Novak had been penning drafts of this column long before he mulled over that first exit poll.  Like all influential “Pundit Media,” Novak wasn’t going to let facts get in the way of his storyline.  Novak refers to a “10-point landslide” but the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania is reporting a 9.2 point “landslide.”  Who cares?  Not a big deal, but it shows how facts and figures tend to get slippery in the hands of the “Pundit Media” and often times the facts “slip” in favor of their argument. Most people learn in grade-school that when you “round” a number you round it to the nearest whole number – which in this case would be 9. Of course, that wouldn’t make the “dreaded Bradley Effect” so dreaded would it?

Novak was reduced to comparing a notoriously unreliable exit poll showing a “puny 3.6 point lead” for Sen. Clinton against his fudged final number of 10-point which he dubs a “landslide” in order to declare the “dreaded Bradley Effect.”  Either way, once Novak dispenses with that first paragraph he hurriedly moves on to the “Deepening Democratic Dilemma”:

If there really is a Bradley Effect in 2008, Zogby sees November peril ahead for Obama in blue states. John McCain is a potential winner not only in Pennsylvania but also Michigan, Wisconsin and Minnesota, and can retain Ohio. But there seems no way Clinton can overtake Obama’s lead in delegates and the popular vote. For unelected super-delegates to deprive Obama of the nomination would so depress African-American general election votes that the nomination would be worthless. In a year when all normal political indicators point to Republican defeat on all fronts, the Democratic Party faces a deepening dilemma.

There we go!  This is the REAL reason Novak wanted to write this column. The difference between the early exit poll and the final outcome didn’t remind him of the “dreaded Bradley Effect.  How could it?  The early exit poll showed Sen. Clinton in the lead and she expanded that lead by another 5.6 points.  Novak’s results oriented reasoning started with the outcome – i.e. the “dreaded Bradley Effect” (on Sunday afternoon maybe?) and worked backwards through the numbers to bolster his case.  Very tricky!  That’s why they call him the Prince of Darkness?

Bottom line:  The “Pundit Media” does not wilt in the face of inconvenient facts when it comes time to put forth their false choices and favorite storylines.