I don't think so. I think it motivated us to vote. Charlie Kirk encouraged the guys to vote. Last minute endorsement by Joe Rogan gave us the last push we needed to win.
If the election was more "normal", maybe more guys would have stayed at home. Harris may have done better. Who knows?
Yes.
That sham poll was released just six weeks ago, the Saturday before the election. Trump had all the momentum, coming off his massive MSG rally in New York City the week before.
Then comes the Iowa poll from the "never wrong", "highly respected pollster" Ann Selzer showing Kamala ahead by 3-4 points, in IOWA!
The Kamala supporters were literally doing cartwheels and happy dances all that weekend. If she was ahead in Iowa, why it would surely be a total blowout nationwide. The entire Rust Belt would belong to Kamala!
Meanwhile, the folks here on Free Republic were despondent. All was lost! If Trump couldn't even win in Iowa, where could he win? It was so depressing around here that I had to logoff and take a long walk outside. I ended up listening to at least two complete David Bowie albums, "Hunky Dory" and "Man Who Sold The World" if I remember correctly in order to get my head cleared of all the negativity surrounding this totally bogus poll.
This was all just six weeks ago!
Trump went on to win Iowa by 13 points just three days later and the presidency in an electoral blowout as well as the popular vote.
But yes, the momentum was blunted as you say. Could have cost us a few congressional seats as many Trump supporters might have stayed home, figuring that if Trump couldn't even win in Iowa, why bother?
This Ann Selzer woman might not have been a fan of Trump but up to that point, she was a very accurate pollster. Which is why she was able to cause such a ruckus with that bogus poll.
Ann Selzer tossed away her reputation and her career in order to give Kamala a last-minute boost. It wasn't enough in the end but she needs to be held to account from a legal standpoint. Retiring in disgrace is not enough.