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Shock Poll! No, It Just Surveys More Democrats and People Unlikely to Vote
Townhall.com ^ | July 2, 2020 | Rachel Alexander

Posted on 07/27/2020 12:09:23 PM PDT by Kaslin

The polling companies are doing it again. In 2016, they skewed their polls to make it look like Hillary Clinton was going to win the presidential election. The Drudge Report, which used to favor the right, is now linking to these biased polls with headlines that shriek “Shock Poll!” Because they really are shocking; no one believes that Joe Biden is significantly ahead of Donald Trump in the polls. As one writer described it, “Biden can’t get through a fawning five-minute interview from his basement, with notes and a teleprompter, without losing his train of thought or saying something absurd.”

John Tantillo, writing for Newsmax, looked at some polls compiled at Real Clear Politics earlier this year and found that every single one of them had a bias of at least six points toward Democrats — polling more Democrats than Republicans. The Independents polled were underrepresented and leaned toward the Democrats. This is not an accurate representation. A December Gallup poll of party affiliation found that 28 percent identify as Democrats, 28 percent as Republicans, and 41 percent as Independents. 

Wayne Allan Root, also writing at Newsmax, identified a Fox News poll last fall that surveyed a whopping 48 percent of Democrats. Similarly, an analyst who looked at polls in 2017 found that by oversampling Democrats, they robbed Trump of 8 points. According to National Review, the major polling company Pew Research Center started oversampling Democrats back in 1992 and hasn’t stopped. Unfortunately, most polls don’t show the breakdown of those surveyed. 

The other polling bias against Republicans involves surveying voters who aren’t likely to vote. Sometimes this involves surveying “registered voters.” Well, a lot of registered voters have no intention of voting in the next election. And those less likely to vote tend to lean more to the left. Polls are a little more accurate when they survey “likely voters.” These may be people who have voted in the last presidential election. But it’s still not as accurate as surveying “likely likely voters,” as one polling company labeled them. These voters consist of those who vote in every election — which contain a higher percentage of conservatives. You may really hate Trump, but if you don’t vote you’re not going to have an effect on the election.

A Gallup poll last fall claimed that 52 percent of Americans supported impeaching Trump and removing him from office. But they didn’t even bother to survey registered voters; they surveyed just anyone who picked up their phone — which could include illegal immigrants and felons who aren’t permitted to vote in most elections. The poll also over-surveyed Democrats. Most of the major liberal news and polling organizations, including Reuters, CBS, CNN, Gallup and CNBC are like this, not bothering to even survey registered voters. 

One of the most accurate polling companies in recent years is Rasmussen Reports. Notably, of all the recent major presidential polls, Rasmussen shows Trump trailing Biden by only two points. The poll surveyed likely voters, and did not break down Republicans v. Democrats. In 2016, Rasmussen’s last presidential poll before the election showed Hillary Clinton ahead of Trump by 2 points. She went on to win the popular vote by 2 points but lost the electoral vote. So there is a good chance that Biden may win the popular vote like Clinton, but lose the election to Trump. This explains why Trump frequently tweets approval numbers that are significantly higher than the numbers the mainstream polls report, he is reporting Rasmussen numbers. 

A Quinnipiac poll taken at the same time earlier this month shows Biden leading by 15 points. That doesn’t even pass the smell test. Even if Biden wins the election, he’s not going to win by a margin anywhere near that. The poll surveyed only registered voters and lists no breakdown of Republicans v. Democrats. 

The mainstream polling companies do not want to correct their polling because they know the skewed polls work to influence people. Republicans in Congress used skewed polls on repealing Obamacare to justify their lack of action.  

Due to the winner-take-all state laws allocating electors to the electoral college, the national polls aren’t what people should be looking at. Only the handful of states that decide elections should be taken into account (and if you don’t like that, then change it). Polls in those states from predictions in the presidential race. Rasmussen finds that Trump is beating Biden by 52 to 45 percent in those states. The poll notes that if equal numbers of Democrats and Republicans are polled, Trump’s lead jumps to 15 percent. 

Democrats overshot their hand with COVID-19. They thought all the people out of work and financially struggling would hurt Trump. But by prolonging the lockdowns and masks despite the fact the virus is receding, they are angering average Americans. 

So let them keep gloating about their phony shock polls. They’ll start slacking, confident that Biden is going to win the election by a colossal 15 points. Deja vu anyone? They claim to be the party of science but they are ignoring extremely clear polling science to their own detriment.



TOPICS: Culture/Society; Editorial; Politics/Elections
KEYWORDS: 2016election; 2020election; 2020preselection; polls; trump2020

1 posted on 07/27/2020 12:09:23 PM PDT by Kaslin
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To: Kaslin

Make sure that you vote, in person. Be counted when it counts. Ignore polls. Encourage kindred spirits to show up and vote.


2 posted on 07/27/2020 12:12:34 PM PDT by drSteve78 (Je suis deplorable.)
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To: AdmSmith; AnonymousConservative; Arthur Wildfire! March; Berosus; Bockscar; cardinal4; ColdOne; ...
And ineligible voters.

3 posted on 07/27/2020 12:13:07 PM PDT by SunkenCiv (Imagine an imaginary menagerie manager imagining managing an imaginary menagerie.)
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To: Kaslin

“Rasmussen finds that Trump is beating Biden by 52 to 45 percent in those states. The poll notes that if equal numbers of Democrats and Republicans are polled, Trump’s lead jumps to 15 percent.”

That’s exactly where the race stands and since Biden has no way of attracting new voters, Trump will only gain in the polls.


4 posted on 07/27/2020 12:14:30 PM PDT by Meatspace
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To: Kaslin

Maybe they’ll vote and they wont even know that they voted?


5 posted on 07/27/2020 12:15:25 PM PDT by BenLurkin (The above is not a statement of fact. It is either opinion or satire. Or both.)
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To: Kaslin

Rasmussen today has Biden 2 points ahead of Trump closing a 10 point gap earlier this summer.


6 posted on 07/27/2020 12:17:27 PM PDT by Midwesterner53
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To: Kaslin

I’ve been ignoring polls altogether because the data quality is so low you can’t extract any genuinely useful information. The industry has devolved into a form of astrology.


7 posted on 07/27/2020 12:17:34 PM PDT by thoughtomator (here comes the switch to Hillary)
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To: Kaslin

I’ve been ignoring polls altogether because the data quality is so low you can’t extract any genuinely useful information. The industry has devolved into a form of astrology.


8 posted on 07/27/2020 12:17:35 PM PDT by thoughtomator (here comes the switch to Hillary)
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To: Kaslin

There was a story a few days ago talking about how the pollsters are basing their methodology on turnout from 2012 and 2018 (both good years for democrats) and simply pretending 2014 and 2016 (good years for Republicans) didn’t happen. This has never been done in the history of polling and their only logic for it is basically, “We don’t know, we’re just assuming the electorate will look more like 2012/2018 than 2014/2016 this November.”


9 posted on 07/27/2020 12:17:40 PM PDT by apillar
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To: thoughtomator
I’ve been ignoring polls altogether because the data quality is so low you can’t extract any genuinely useful information.

The thought so nice, you posted it twice.

So I made it thrice, cause it's important.

Everything you read in the media is a lie. What's fascinating now, is they're lying so fast in multiple directions at once.

10 posted on 07/27/2020 12:26:15 PM PDT by Richard Kimball (WWG1WGA)
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To: Richard Kimball

Polls will show Biden with an overwhelming unbeatable lead right up to the election. When Trump wins it will be blamed on voter fraud. The riots will begin in earnest


11 posted on 07/27/2020 12:34:39 PM PDT by Vehmgericht (12)
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To: Meatspace

“Rasmussen finds that Trump is beating Biden by 52 to 45 percent in those states. The poll notes that if equal numbers of Democrats and Republicans are polled, Trump’s lead jumps to 15 percent.”

Because there actually ARE equal numbers of Democrats and Republicans in those states, right?

By polling more Democrats, Rasmussen and every single other polling company is deliberately skewing the poll results and they are dumb enough to think that nobody will notice. But we’re on to them now!!!


12 posted on 07/27/2020 12:54:42 PM PDT by PermaRag (WANTED: millions of patriotic gun owners who are willing to trade bullets for freedom)
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To: Kaslin

AOL commie news ran a story last night, “Republicans prepare for life after Trump.” Jeff Flake was in the picture. We are seeing derangement here.


13 posted on 07/27/2020 1:25:46 PM PDT by Luke21
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To: Kaslin

We have relied on these arguments in elections where we lost as well as won.


14 posted on 07/27/2020 1:31:38 PM PDT by Republican Wildcat
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To: Kaslin

I don’t see Biden winning any debates with Trump, and many present anti-Trump voters will vote for Trump, instead of voting for a mentally unstable man who is, also, a pervert.


15 posted on 07/27/2020 1:35:11 PM PDT by johnthebaptistmoore (The world continues to be stuck in a "all leftist, all of the time" funk. BUNK THE FUNK!)
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To: Kaslin
A December Gallup poll of party affiliation found that 28 percent identify as Democrats, 28 percent as Republicans, and 41 percent as Independents.

That's nice, but I wonder why Rachel chose a Gallup survey from December when there's a much more current one:

U.S. Party Preferences Have Swung Sharply Toward Democrats

"Democrats now hold 11-point advantage in party affiliation..."

Maybe she ignored it because it destroys the entire premise of her article?

16 posted on 07/27/2020 1:48:29 PM PDT by semimojo
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To: Kaslin

When I dug into the Fox polls, I found out that they are not really polls. Registered voters (maybe) and no accounting for a reasonable Republican, democrat, independent breakdown. Just who answers the phone. And we know that is very skewed to the democrat ledger.


17 posted on 07/27/2020 2:12:53 PM PDT by Revolutionary ("Praise the Lord and Pass the Ammunition!")
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To: Kaslin

One thing that also must be factored in even in the Democratic “Blue Wave” in 2018 Repubs where still 33 percent of the vote...some of these polling samples are so unbelievably bad with like 24 percent republican voter support that you just are numb to it anymore


18 posted on 07/27/2020 2:29:38 PM PDT by Lod881019
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To: Richard Kimball

I need a new mouse it double-lefts too easy


19 posted on 07/27/2020 11:42:53 PM PDT by thoughtomator (here comes the switch to Hillary)
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