Analysis: Get Ready For The Nastiest, Most Unpredictable Campaign You Can Imagine

[DonViejo]

David Lightman
McClatchy Washington Bureau

PHILADELPHIA — America is about to endure the closest, nastiest, most unpredictable presidential election in more than three decades. Not since Jimmy Carter and Ronald Reagan ran against each other in 1980 has the choice been so stark, the warnings from each candidate about the other so dire, the likely outcome so murky.

As this year's political conventions end, there is no clear victor. But watch upcoming polls. The leaders in the first polls conducted after Labor Day, which in most recent election cycles is the first after both conventions end, has won the White House every election year since 1952.

"That's when the dust settles. That is the person who ends up taking the oath of office," said Lee Miringoff, director of the Marist Institute for Public Opinion, at a breakfast hosted this week by McClatchy.

There is one exception. In 1980, the parties were tied at Labor Day, and the election didn't swing until the final days.

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http://www.nationalmemo.com/nastiest-unpredictable-campaign-imagine/