Dr. Sam Wang, a neuroscientist at Princeton University, wrote a spirited defense of Silver on the Princeton Election Consortium blog (http://election.princeton.edu), where Wang also does some insightful statistical analysis on the Presidential election.
Wang sometimes disagrees with Silver, but supports the notion of a data-driven approach. Fascinating stuff on his blog, too: he's running Bayesian prediction models, Random Drift, and has a popular meta-margin that is worth checking out.
He also takes some delightful shots at journalists and others who are trying to keep the focus on political "horse race" reporting, instead of using more rigor. And he has a great sense of humor - his "Nerds Under Attack" post is hilarious - http://election.princeton.edu/2012/10/29/nerds-under-attack/
Wang sometimes disagrees with Silver, but supports the notion of a data-driven approach. Fascinating stuff on his blog, too: he's running Bayesian prediction models, Random Drift, and has a popular meta-margin that is worth checking out.
He also takes some delightful shots at journalists and others who are trying to keep the focus on political "horse race" reporting, instead of using more rigor. And he has a great sense of humor - his "Nerds Under Attack" post is hilarious - http://election.princeton.edu/2012/10/29/nerds-under-attack/