PS and PSD in the Portuguese polls

As usual, very few polls, nothing since April 20th (!), everything very dependent on the leverage of particular polls from particular pollsters. And yet, note the recent unusual pattern when we take into account normal polling patterns for PSD and PS: one party's loss has ceased to be the other party's gain.

I'll leave the deep interpretation to you, but it doesn't seem too difficult.

French polls, 2nd round (May 4th update)

Including polls made public yesterday and today:

And zooming in on the last month:

So I would not open the bottle of champagne right now.

France 2nd round polls, May 1st update

There's a petit frisson around Sarkozy "narrowing the gap," and yes, there may be something going on along those lines. But a little perspective: looking at the last two polls of each of the eight pollsters, Holland has declined in just four of them, and by a maximum of two points. The lowest score for Hollande in any poll is 53%, i.e, about what Sarkozy had against Royal at about this point in the campaign in 2007, or what Chirac had against Jospin in 1995. Sarkozy ended up with 53.1% of the vote and Chirac with 52.6%. Having said that, considering his record, it's quite extraordinary that Sarkozy manages to keep this even vaguely competitive. And I can't help thinking about the famous  "shy Tories" phenomenon in the UK 1992 election: could it be that polls are underestimating the rightist vote? French pollsters have a good track record, but that's only if you decide to discount the FN vote. A Socialist candidate as favorite is, as we know, an unusual phenomenon. And a look at the technical reports of the French polls shows quota sampling all over the place, and it's difficult not to be a little freaked out about that.