Conservative radio host Rush Limbaugh on Tuesday sympathized with polling whiz Nate Silver, characterizing him as former hero of Democrats.
“This is what they tend to do. They invest in a singular, messianic personality — and when that person doesn’t follow what they hope or want, then they are challenged,” Limbaugh said on his show. “I mean, it’s a sanity challenge. So they’re very upset and turning on him, and it probably is going to get worse for the poor guy before it gets better.”
Some Democrats criticized Silver this week when he predicted that Republicans could take back the Senate in the 2014 election. The Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee executive director Guy Cecil defended four of the incumbent senators Silver picked as likely to lose to a GOP candidate.
Limbaugh charged that Democrats only like Silver when he predicts elections in their favor.
“So many really invested their psychological health in what Nate Silver was saying during the questionable, nervous days and months leading up to the 2012 election,” he said. “Now the Democrats are all saying, ‘Well, you know what? His model really isn’t all that hot.'”
He then used New York Times columnist Paul Krugman’s skepticism of Silver’s work to cast doubt on global warming.
“Democrats like Paul Krugman are out all over the place saying, ‘Hey, you know what? Computer models like Silver’s, we gotta throw ’em out, because they can be wrong,'” Limbaugh said. “Oh, you mean like the climate change models, Paul? Are you gonna throw those out, too, or are you just gonna throw out the models that show bad news for your side? They never admit the global warming models can be wrong.”
