Totally accurate: Statistician Nate Silver correctly called all 50 states in the US Presidential election using a unique mathematical formula To every politico, pundit and punter from Seattle to Miami, this was a Presidential election contest between two candidates separated only by a hair’s breadth. ‘It is a toss-up,’ the pundits said. ‘Too close to call.’ Barack Obama against Mitt Romney was so tightly-fought that sitting on the fence was the only way of avoiding being openly pilloried. But one analyst has won nationwide acclaim in America after trusting in his highly complex power of prediction to call Obama’s resounding victory with stunning accuracy.
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Nate Silver, 34, used an elaborate series of calculations to correctly call the outcome in all 50 states
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He ran thousands of computer calculations based on innumerable factors such as polling results and voting outcomes in previous elections
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Gave Barack Obama a 90.9 per cent chance of success, attracting widespread ridicule from traditional pundits in what was regarded as the closest race in years
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His achievement opens the door for a more statistics-based approach to polling, say experts
‘That’s @placeholder’s contention – TV pundits are generally no more accurate than a coin toss – must now be given wider credence.’