Free Republic
Browse · Search
General/Chat
Topics · Post Article

Skip to comments.

MONDALE LEADS REAGAN IN TRIAL HEAT FOR THE PRESIDENCY (polls lie, and have lied for decades)
The Harris Survey ^ | January 24, 1983 | Louis Harris

Posted on 10/28/2020 9:55:11 AM PDT by Triple

The Harris Survey

For Release: Monday k~, January 24th, 1983 1983 #7

ISSN 0273-1037

MONDALE LEADS REAGAN IN TRIAL HEAT FOR THE PRESIDENCY

By Louis Harris

In a trial heat for the 1984 presidential election, former Vice President Walter Mondale is now leading President Ronald Reagan by a 53-44 percent margin. This is the first time in modern political history that an incumbent president has run behind his potential opponent so early in his term. Last April, Mondale and Reagan finished in a 48-48 percent dead heat.

This latest Harris Survey, taken by telephone between January 2nd and 5th among a cross section of 891 likely voters screened from a larger cross section of 1,254 adults nationwide, amply demonstrates just how much President Reagan has slipped. Indeed, not only has the President fallen behind among those Democratic groups where he made a strong showing in 1980, but also he is experiencing some major losses in his 1980 majority base:

--Regionally, the most decisive shifts have taken place in the Midwest, traditionally Republican, and in the West, previously viewed as Reagan country. The President now trails Mondale in the West by 56-41 percent, a complete turnaround from the 53-37 percent margin by which he swept that region in 1980. In the Midwest, Mondale now leads by 53-43 percent, another big shift from the 49-40 percent margin the President held in the last election. In the East, where Reagan won a narrow 45-42 percent plurality in 1980, he is now behind Mondale by 12 points, 54-42 percent. The South is the only region where the results are close: Mondale now holds a narrow 49-48 percent edge in the region where Reagan had a 50-44 percent plurality in 1980.

--A startling change has occurred in the suburbs, where Mondale now leads Reagan by 50-46 percent. The President won the suburbs in a three-way race in 1980 by a decisive 50-39 percent. It is virtually impossible for any Republican to win the White House without winning the suburban vote by at least 8 points. In the traditionally Demo­ cratic big cities, Mondale holds a commanding 63-35 percent majority, dramatically better than the 47-42 percent plurality held by Jimmy Carter in 1980. Among rural voters, Reagan and Mondale are tied at 49 percent. In the small towns, however, the President is holding on to a 51-42 percent lead.

--By political philosophy, President Reagan wins among conservatives by 59-38 percent, but this is still well below the 67-28 percent majority he held in 1980.

Among middle of the road voters, a group Reagan carried by 47-41 percent in the last presidential election, he now trails Mondale by 53-43 percent. Liberals prefer Mondale, not unexpectedly, by 79-20 percent. Most significant now is the fact that any moderate to conservative coalition seems to have disappeared, as conservatives have isolated them­ selves from the broad middle of the electorate.

--Among men, Reagan wins by 52-46 percent; among women, Mondale soars to a 58-37 percent lead. If the election had been held this month, Mondale would owe his victory to the strong anti-Reagan sentiments of women.

--Among union members, Mondale defeats Reagan by 60-37 percent, a 23 point margin, close to a normal Democratic majority. In 1980, Reagan lost the union vote by only 9 points in a three-way race, 51-40 percent.

--As expected, the President would win the Republican vote, but his current 79-16 percent margin is considerably lower than the 85-9 percent by which he won that vote in the last election. Mondale sweeps the Democratic vote by 82-17 percent, a much stronger showing than the 69-23 percent held by Carter in 1980. Among political independents,

THE HARRIS SURVEY (Bad format - my apologies-triple) January 24th, 1983 January 1983 April 1982 44 48 42 43 48 41 35 46 51 49 44 47 42 42 53 3 48 4 54 4 53 4 49 3 56 3 63 2 50 4 42 7 49 2 54 2 51 2 56 2 50 8 46 2 58 5 60 3

January 1983 Demographics East Midwest South West Cities Suburbs Towns Rural Age 18-29 30-49 50-64 65 " over 52 Women 37 Men Union member 37 -2­

Mondale holds a 53-45 percent lead, a complete turnaround from the 52-28 percent victory scored by Reagan in 1980.

--MondaIe wins among all age groups, but the most dramatic win is among those in the 50-64 age bracket. Reagan won this vote by 54-40 percent in 1980, his largest margin among any age group. Now, he is running behind among these voters by 56-42 percent. This is probably the price the President is paying for surfacing a possible 40 percent cutback in Social Security benefits for those who retire at 62. Among those 65 and over, who supported Reagan by 51-44 percent in 1980, Mondale now leads by 50-42 percent. Among young people under 30, who supported the President by 46-40 percent in 1980, Mondale is now 54-44 percent ahead. Finally, among the 30-49 age group, Mondale holds a narrow 51-47 percent lead, whereas Reagan won this vote by 46-40 percent in a three-way race in 1980. Since people age 50 and over vote with almost twice as high a frequency as those under 50, the shift away from Reagan among older voters is particularly damaging to his chances.

--Among those who voted for Reagan in 1980, he wins now by 70-26 percent. But having lost more than a fourth of his own voters, this President may find it hard to win back so much lost ground.

TABLES (formatting errors mine-triple)

Between January 2nd and 5th, the Harris Survey asked a cross section of 891 likely voters nationwide by telephone:

-Now suppose in 1984 the election for President was between Ronald Reagan for the Republicans and former Vice President Walter Mondale for the Democrats. If you had to choose today, would you vote for Reagan or for Mondale?"

REAGAN V S . MONDALE IN 1 3 8 4 Not Reagan Mondale sure (continued) %% -%­

THE HARRIS SURVEY

January 24th, 1983 January 1983 Democraphics (cont. ) Voted Reagan in '80 Voted Carter in '80 Republican Democrat Independent Conservative Middle of the road Liberal 70 26 4 11 88 1 79 16 5 17 82 1 45 53 2 59 38 3 43 53 4 20 79 1 REAGAN V S . -3­ MONDALE IN 1 9 8 4 ( C O N T . ) METHODOLOGY

This latest Harris Survey was conducted by telephone with a representative cross section of likely voters 18 and over at 891 different sampling points within the United States between January 2nd and 5th. Figures for age, sex and race were weighted where necessary to bring them into line with their actual proportions in the population. In a sample of this size, one can say with 95% certainty that the results are within plus or minus 3.3 percentage points of what they would be if the entire adult population had been polled.

This statement conforms to the principles of disclosure of the National Council on Public Polls.

(c) 1983

The Chicago Tribune World Rights Reserved Tribune Company Syndicate, Inc. 220 East 42nd Street, New York, NY 10017


TOPICS:
KEYWORDS: 2020election; election2020; fraud; landslide; polling; polls; trumplandslide
Navigation: use the links below to view more comments.
first previous 1-2021-33 last
To: Triple

I did it had polls 60-35 for a Reagan win.


21 posted on 10/28/2020 10:16:26 AM PDT by napscoordinator (Trump/Hunter, jr for President/Vice President 2016)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 20 | View Replies]

To: Triple

https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/politics/1984/10/31/conflicting-campaign-polls-point-to-one-certainty-some-are-wrong/30636083-2905-4e24-93a2-73ba76a7a587/


22 posted on 10/28/2020 10:17:22 AM PDT by napscoordinator (Trump/Hunter, jr for President/Vice President 2016)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 20 | View Replies]

To: Triple

Boy they sure did try. And still are lying and trying to this day. But some of us see right through them.


23 posted on 10/28/2020 10:18:35 AM PDT by Ardent Fire
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Triple

Then they said Playboy Gary Hart could beat Reagan too. They lied so much that when they said Clinton was winning I didn’t believe them.


24 posted on 10/28/2020 10:20:25 AM PDT by Luke21
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Triple

President Mondale....yipe.


25 posted on 10/28/2020 10:21:01 AM PDT by Leep (We can go to the grocery store but we can't go to work?)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Kevin C

RE: The same survey had Reagan leading 53%-44% a few weeks before the election:

IN other words, the poll was correct two weeks before the elections. I would not give any credence to polls that were taken over a year before the election ( which this article refers to ). A year is an eternity in politics.


26 posted on 10/28/2020 10:23:14 AM PDT by SeekAndFind
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 16 | View Replies]

To: SeekAndFind

My favorite poll of all time:

https://time.com/4546942/hillary-clinton-donald-trump-lead-poll/

Hillary up by fourteen points.

One week before the election.

Time Magazine.

You can’t make up this s^%$!


27 posted on 10/28/2020 10:28:15 AM PDT by cgbg (Biden n-2020: Criminal enterprise using cokehead as bagman.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 26 | View Replies]

To: Triple

One of the best instances of biased polling was recently.
There was a poll that came out saying that 57% of people in The US are all for the “transitioning” away from fossil fuels.

I showed that poll to several people that I know, and I asked them if they thought the pollsters asked many people in the middle of the country if they agreed with that.
The only answer I got was “hell no”.

To me a poll like that is proof that there are selected/targeted areas that are polled, not random locations and people in those locations.


28 posted on 10/28/2020 10:31:17 AM PDT by TexasM1A
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: napscoordinator

Are you suggesting that I cherry picked the article I posted?

I did pick the headline that was in line with the message I wanted to deliver. (Polls lie)

I rarely post an article, but when I do you can be confident that the message/ learning in the post is one I favor getting out.


29 posted on 10/28/2020 10:34:17 AM PDT by Triple (Socialism denies people the right to the fruits of their labor, and is as abhorrent as slavery)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 21 | View Replies]

To: Triple

Just pointing out that although not a lie. You certainly stretched the truth by miles.


30 posted on 10/28/2020 12:10:29 PM PDT by napscoordinator (Trump/Hunter, jr for President/Vice President 2016)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 29 | View Replies]

To: Triple
MONDALE LEADS REAGAN IN TRIAL HEAT FOR THE PRESIDENCY (polls lie, and have lied for decades)...how true - I'm over eighty years old and can't remember any election which the Republican headed into ahead in the polls - oh, except maybe Dewey-Truman in 1948.......
31 posted on 10/28/2020 12:53:10 PM PDT by Intolerant in NJ
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Triple

Mondale lost in 49 states. I used to joke many years ago when he lost in MN, that he lost in all 50. LOL


32 posted on 10/28/2020 2:29:57 PM PDT by Trillian
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: napscoordinator

So, in your world Polls *dont* lie...

Ok.

Bless your heart.


33 posted on 10/29/2020 5:22:47 AM PDT by Triple (Socialism denies people the right to the fruits of their labor, and is as abhorrent as slavery)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 30 | View Replies]


Navigation: use the links below to view more comments.
first previous 1-2021-33 last

Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.

Free Republic
Browse · Search
General/Chat
Topics · Post Article

FreeRepublic, LLC, PO BOX 9771, FRESNO, CA 93794
FreeRepublic.com is powered by software copyright 2000-2008 John Robinson