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republicanveteran Commander
Joined: 29 Jul 2004 Posts: 333 Location: Texas
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Posted: Thu Aug 05, 2004 12:44 am Post subject: How to read the Presidential Polls |
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Fear not, we are ahead in the polls. Please see my post at http://proudrepublican.blogspot.com/
REPUBLICANPUNDIT.
Does anyone know exactly why the polls are biased toward democrats? I have heard it explained, but cannot remember the exact reason, although I believe it to be true... |
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Cowboy Seaman Recruit
Joined: 29 Jul 2004 Posts: 49
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Posted: Thu Aug 05, 2004 1:49 am Post subject: |
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The polls are biased because the newspapers are biased in favor of democrats. Hence, polls conducted by a newspaper generally tend to favor the democratic candidate because the newspapers cook the numbers by overpolling democrats and other shenanigans. The most recent infamous example of bias is the LA Times. According to the LA Times poll, Gray Davis should have easily won the recall election, which as we all know, was handily won by Schwartzenegger.
The more reliable polls are conducted by organizations that are actually in the business of polling, rather than selling newspapers (acutally ads). An organization dedicated to polling has a reputation to uphold and is more interested in getting accurate results, rather than favoring a particular bias that people at the organization may have. |
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republicanveteran Commander
Joined: 29 Jul 2004 Posts: 333 Location: Texas
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Posted: Thu Aug 05, 2004 1:57 am Post subject: |
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I understand what you are saying, cowboy, and thanks for reading and responding, however, there is a statistical reason which I have heard explained many times. Rush explained it not long ago. I agree that the news pollsters are a joke and I ingnore them, but the legits use this rule. |
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ASPB Master Chief Petty Officer of the Navy
Joined: 01 Jun 2004 Posts: 1680
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Posted: Thu Aug 05, 2004 2:40 am Post subject: |
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Polls, by their very nature, are fraught with bias. Random continuous (daily) polling has always been preferable in my opinion.
One source that I've relied on for a professional, technologically progressive, and largely unbiased approach is Scott Rasmussen.
http://www.rasmussenreports.com/index.htm
Scott seems above manipulating the questions for political partisan gain. That's to be admired.
But, again, They're just polls. Unfortunately, they can be used politically to boost a candidate or to weaken the resolve of supporter. They are emotional propaganda tools used on us and we need to be aware of it. In a sense they're not different from a Michael Moore movie. That's why we have Republican pollsters and Democratic Pollster. Spinmeisters!
Just think of a strong Kerry supporter's (if such an animal exists) reaction is to a poll that shows him loosing ground immediately after the convention.
You all must be familiar with the sinking gut feeling, aka fear. It's kinda like when someone starts firing RPG's at you. At least the physical reaction is similar. _________________ On Sale! Order in lots of 100 now at velero@rcn.com Free for the cost of shipping All profits (if any, especially now) go to Swiftvets. The author of "Sink Kerry Swiftly" ---ASPB |
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scotty61 LCDR
Joined: 07 May 2004 Posts: 419 Location: Glyndon MN
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Posted: Thu Aug 05, 2004 3:13 pm Post subject: |
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You may be thinking of polls of registered voters. These tend to favor democrats while polls of likely voters do not. |
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