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Coleman handily.
This columnist certainly does not intend to engage in any media bashing. After all, two of three statewide polls taken shortly before the election had Wilder far ahead of his rival.
The Washington Post was saying the Democrat led the Republican by 11 points, with just seven percent undecided, while The Richmond Times-Dispatch had Wilder ahead by nine points, with an incredible 19 percent undecided.
Only the Mason-Dixion poll, which showed Wilder ahead by four points, came close to predicting the breathtaking finish that put Wilder over the top by a hair — providing he doesn’t lose in a coming recount.
And even that respected poll lost some of its well-earned credibility when its exit polling on election day showed that Wilder would beat Coleman by 10 percentage points. One has to wonder how the two pre-election polls showing Wilder would win in a landslide could have been so far from reality.
That is particularly true when all polls showed Republican fCddy Dalton with a substantial lead over Democratic newcomer Don Beyer. Beyer, of course, easily defeated Mrs. Dalton, contrary to the predictions made by practically every political pundit in Virginia, including this one.
Modesty, however, almost prevents me from pointing out that in a final column written just before the election, I said there could be a “nobody knows but God and me” factor in the gubernatorial race.
That suggested the possibility that thousands of moderate and con
94.3%