When we were young and living through Egypt's seven fat years, though we knew it not, every newspaper commissioned an election poll, or at least called people and reported the political preferences of those who didn't hang up. However, no boss wanted to be made fun of at the next APME convention, so we always had to work variations on the phrase
Turnout is key into the heds. For instance,
Incumbent who owns voting machines runs unopposed, but turnout is key to victory, poll finds. The paper would pat itself on the back afterward if it guessed right, and if it guessed wrong there wouldn't be room for the story, what with all the election news.
First Thoughts: All comes down to turnout and racial composition [
NBC News]