Keller @ Large: No Shock That Poll Finds Obama-Romney In Virtual Tie

BOSTON (CBS) - The new CBS News/New York Times poll that came out yesterday has sent both sides of the presidential race into a frenzy of self-serving spin, and that comes as no surprise.

Listen to Jon's commentary:

That's what the political class does, and make no mistake about it, there's money in spinning. I see no one who does it for a living showing signs of undernourishment.

But that doesn't mean any of it has more than a distant relationship with the truth.

Let's start with the overall "shock" value of the poll, which found that Governor Romney has a three-point lead over President Obama. A clear sign of Rom-mentum, says the right, or at least of anti-Obama backlash.

But wait a second.

The survey's margin of error is four percent.

So, Romney might have as much as a seven-point lead, or Obama might be ahead.

And out of six times this poll has been taken since January, the two men have only been separated by more than four percent once, Obama by six back in February.

"Shock" value?

There is none.

But still, the Obama campaign wants to knock down the poll entirely, claiming it's using a scientifically corrupted sample. False, and beside the point.

The poll finding seems entirely plausible. It's a 50/50 country, has been for years, and a virtual tie at this point makes perfect sense.

The Democrats also don't like the lack of a gender gap in this poll, but it makes sense that their ginned-up "war on women" rhetoric wouldn't work. Do they really think women care more about contraception than they do about their family's economic future?

And the Republicans are crowing about the finding that 25% say they're less likely to vote for Obama because of his position on gay marriage, but they shouldn't. Seventeen percent said the same of Romney's position, and by November, few voters will care either way.

Sorry, spin doctors; I'm suing for malpractice on this one.

You can listen to Keller At Large on WBZ News Radio every weekday at 7:55 a.m. and 12:25 p.m. You can also watch Jon on WBZ-TV News.