NYT Jumps the Gun, but I'm Right There With Them

I discovered the New York Times' interactive map showing predictions for the U.S. House of Representatives and the U.S. Senate elections today.  I'm not sure how long they've had the charts up on the site, but it seems a little premature.  For one thing, the Times can be accused of covering the "horse race," so to speak, before the horses have even left the gate.  "Horse race" coverage focuses on who's ahead, as opposed to the issues at stake. The charts show who's "ahead" in the Congressional elections, even though the candidates from either party haven't even been selected in most cases.  There is a primary election in both parties that will determine the candidates later on this year.  It is also interesting that the colors on the map are not representative of any hard data or anything like that, but on "a variety of factors" that seem to be pretty subjective, such as interviews with strategists.  Still, I'm drawn to the maps as a representation of the political divisions in our country.  Compare them with this map, which I discovered after Pres. Obama's election in 2008.  It has now been updated with tools to break down the actual data in a variety of ways.  If you want to know who's ahead where, the data is pretty fascinating.  Still, it doesn't break down the issues in the same way.