Actually, I think there is a “combo” poll that adds together a bunch of different polls...which is what CRU was doing. I think that’s a useless stat too!
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It’s what Real Clear Politics does:
http://www.realclearpolitics.com/epolls/other/president_obama_job_approval-1044.html
I like Rasmussen, to wit:
The relative polling accuracy of Rasmussen.
http://www.fordham.edu/images/academics/graduate_schools/gsas/elections_and_campaign_/poll%20accuracy%20in%20the%202008%20presidential%20election.pdf
The following list ranks the 23 organizations by the accuracy of their final, national pre-election polls (as reported on pollster.com).
1. Rasmussen (11/1-3)**
1. Pew (10/29-11/1)**
2. YouGov/Polimetrix (10/18-11/1)
3. Harris Interactive (10/20-27)
4. GWU (Lake/Tarrance) (11/2-3)*
5. Diageo/Hotline (10/31-11/2)*
5. ARG (10/25-27)*
6. CNN (10/30-11/1)
6. Ipsos/McClatchy (10/30-11/1)
7. DailyKos.com (D)/Research 2000 (11/1-3)
8. AP/Yahoo/KN (10/17-27)
9. Democracy Corps (D) (10/30-11/2)
10. FOX (11/1-2)
11. Economist/YouGov (10/25-27)
12. IBD/TIPP (11/1-3)
13. NBC/WSJ (11/1-2)
14. ABC/Post (10/30-11/2)
15. Marist College (11/3)
16. CBS (10/31-11/2)
17. Gallup (10/31-11/2)
18. Reuters/ C-SPAN/ Zogby (10/31-11/3)
19. CBS/Times (10/25-29)
20. Newsweek (10/22-23)
I like Rasmussen's total data and maybe even his methods, and he clearly is the most accurate Approve/Disapprove for vote prediction.
I do not think the "Strongly Approve - Strongly Disapprove" +/- daily number is meaningful, though. I think it's just a marketing product to draw attention to his website on a daily basis...not that there's anything wrong with capitalistic marketing of course!!!!
I guess I'm a "technical trader" when it comes to poll data. I'm interested in the long term trends, and don't put much stock in day-to-day variations. Sorry for the pun.
If I see a big downswing in any of the polls during next summer, I'll be surprised. If I see a huge uptick after passage of DeathCare or some other international disaster, I won't be surprised.