GET BUSY AND E-MAIL BOTH HARRIS AND THE NATIONAL POLLING ORGANIZATION... LET THEM KNOW THAT YOU DO NOT BELIEVE THE NUMBERS AND WANT AN EXPLANATION THAT COMPLIES WITH THE NATIONAL POLLING ORGANIZATION'S REQUIREMENTS!
"there following requirements"
should be
"their following requirements" or "the following requirements"
The Harris Poll was done among ADULTS, 18 and older. It wasn't done among likely voters or even registered voters. It was done among whomever happened to answer the phone provided they were 18 or older. That's it.
I use to work for the guy who does the Harris Poll, a real pig of a man and hardcore Democrat named Hal Quinley. I worked for him before Harris took over the company Quinley was employed by, Yankelovich Partners. At that time they did Time/CNN's polling. It appears to me Quinley lost the Time poll since someone else other than Harris is now doing it.
Quinley's methodological philosophy on polling was simple: Get it done quick, who cares if it's accurate? He would not balance by region or party I.D. or do anything to weight the data so it was more representative of real political demographics. He only wanted it on time, quick and dirty, to please his clients at CNN. Accuracy was not an overwhelming concern.
Anyway, I know Quinley continued on with Harris after the take-over, though I confess I've not spoken with any of my internal contacts at Harris to know for sure if Quinley is still running their political polling. Last I heard he was in some serious trouble with the management at Harris and may no longer be with the company.
But if Quinley is indeed running the Harris poll, then that will tell you a lot about the quality of the poll and the biases of the man running it. The guy is a far-left Democrat who hated me because I was a Republican. He was literally the worst boss I ever worked for. He was degrading to his employees, foul-mouthed, foul-tempered, rude,had an incredibly offensive and sexually explicit "sense of humor" and had the warmth of a frozen sidewalk.
But even as he lost employee after employee largely because people could not stand working with this disgusting creature, with a turnover rate akin to that of McDonald's, I'm sure he considered himself a "compassionate, caring Democrat in tune with the needs and concerns of the common working man." You can dry that one out and fertilize the lawn with it.
In any event, the fact that the Harris poll did not talk to likely or even registered voters and just whomever happened to answer the phone tells you the poll is not to be looked on as accurate.
KISS. Why take twenty mental detours when a simple explanation and an even simpler rule of engagement will suffice.