Booman Tribune

Don't Trust Rasmussen Polls

by BooMan
Sat Aug 15th, 2009 at 05:01:05 PM EST

I really want to urge Democrats not to believe any Rasmussen poll that can't be tested by an actual election. Every opinion poll that they put out seems unhelpful and demoralizing to Democrats, and they rarely agree with other polling (when other polling is available). It has gotten to the point that I am suspicious about whether Rasmussen is even conducting the polls that they're releasing. You can get the result you want from a poll if you know how to tweak the questions or the methodology (e.g., the sample). But, why bother? If your poll results can't be verified by comparison to actual outcomes, then you're free to just release made up data. If Rasmussen's election polls were to come out as badly as, say, Zogby's, then people would dismiss their polling on health care or wiretapping or the president's popularity or teabagging birthers. But Rasmussen, in my opinion, is using the credibility that they gained as a decent election polling outfit to dupe people into believing phony polling data on the events of the day. Maybe Nate Silver can figure out a way to test this theory, but I believe I am right about this.

Job One for the Right is to convince Congress that the people are opposed to health care reform despite having voted for it rather explicitly in the last two election cycles. Bogus polling helps that cause. Crazy yelling constituents helps that cause. But those things are distortions. The only polls that should be trusted are internal Democratic polls.



Display:
There was a Gallup poll the other day measuring how Obama was handling healthcare. It was pretty worthless because if you wanted him to be more aggressive you didn't like how he was handling it, and if you hated him because he's black and is going to kill granny then you didn't like he was handling it.

It would be interesting if they polled people if they liked Medicare and if they'd like healthcare set up like Medicare. But of course that would actually clarify what people want. The pollsters aren't in that business.

by Bob In Pacifica on Sat Aug 15th, 2009 at 06:19:02 PM EST
Rasmussen didn't get their tag as being a Republican pollster for nothing ... they always had higher approvals for W. ... so why is it a surprise that they have lower approvals for Obama?
by Calvin Jones and the 13th Apostle on Sat Aug 15th, 2009 at 05:25:57 PM EST
And to add two things ... one of which I forgot .. and one I didn't know ..

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rasmussen_Reports

Rasmussen was paid by Bush-Cheney '04(shocker!! .. I know) .. and that Rasmussen is based in Asbury Park, NJ .. has anyone been there lately? .. has the revitalization gotten off the ground?

by Calvin Jones and the 13th Apostle on Sat Aug 15th, 2009 at 05:28:54 PM EST
[ Parent ]
How convenient of them.  On the Newshour yesterday, David Brooks twice stated that the public was against health care reform.  I emailed them, challenging his remarks.  Every poll I've seen indicates people favor reform by an overwhelming margin.  Still, even given that poll, you have to parse their conclusions pretty selectively to conclude that a "majority of the American people are against it."  

And as far as that goes, if what comes out of the Senate committees is as watered down as it sounds like it might be, then maybe passing no bill at all might actually be a better outcome.  But that's still a far cry from being against health care reform.

What part of "international war crimes" do you not understand?

by budr (budr at hughes net) on Sat Aug 15th, 2009 at 07:12:02 PM EST
Which is why Gallup asked about how Obama was handling the healthcare issue. That way you can lump in people who want Obama to be more forceful and people who hate Obama and misinterpret that as the majority of people being against healthcare reform. It's a very intentional strategy to misrepresent the American people's will.
by Bob In Pacifica on Sat Aug 15th, 2009 at 08:41:01 PM EST
[ Parent ]
Rasmussen had a poll earlier this year showing 3/4 of the public against higher taxes for New Jersey. But other pollsters asked questions that included income limits and the like, and got 3/4 in favor of higher taxes on the rich.

New Jersey news and politics at Blue Jersey.
by Hopeful in NJ on Sun Aug 16th, 2009 at 11:22:21 AM EST
Rassmussen is doing its job:  helping to kill Obamacare one partisan poll at a time.  It gives the GOP lies and liars the credibility they need to go on the Sunday shows and say "America hates the deeply unpopular Obamacare program and the deeply unpopular Obama."

Then they play the liberal media card on the rest of the polls, and those who are looking for cover to dislike a non-white President in an increasingly non-white America have it.

Mission Accomplished.

More at Zandar vs. The Stupid.

by Zandar1 on Sun Aug 16th, 2009 at 02:47:33 PM EST


Display:
Go to: [ Booman Tribune Homepage : Top of page : Top of comments ]
Menu
Login
. Make a new account
. Reset password





Find textbooks at Alibris!

NOTE: Overstock bests Amazon's prices and is "blue."

THE BOOKS WITH "BUZZ":
______________

Senator Edward M. Kennedy tells his extraordinary personal story:

True Compass: A Memoir
by Edward M. Kennedy.

Read Barack Obama's vision for America:

The Audacity of Hope: Thoughts on Reclaiming the American Dream
by Barack Obama

Boran2 and maryb2004 recommend:

The Big Over Easy: A Nursery Crime
by Jasper Fforde

Must-have information for all presidents-and citizens-of the twenty-first century?

Physics for Future Presidents: The Science behind the Headlines
Richard A. Muller

rae recommends:

Dark Ages America: The Final Phase of Empire
by Morris Berman.

On BooMan’s shelf:

Team of Rivals: The Political Genius of Abraham Lincoln
by Doris Kearns Goodwin

This looks interesting:

Adventure Divas
by Holly Morris

Here’s a good one from
Elizabeth Gilbert:

Eat Pray Love
by Elizabeth Gilbert

"Crash" * Best Motion Picture, Academy Awards * Only $11.79 at Overstock * 2006 SAG Winner, Best Ensemble

Check out
Powell's new section:
NEW FAVORITES

Selected new arrivals at 30% off

Recommended by Indianadem and ejmw:
The Conscience of a Liberal
by Paul Wellstone

From northcountry’s bookshelf:

The New Golden Age:
The Coming Revolution Against
Political Corruption and Economic Chaos
by Ravi Batra

A novel about contractors in Iraq from the woman that runs The Spy That Billed Me:

Outsourced: A Novel
from RJ Hillhouse.


Great Deals
----- * ^ * -----

Find mystery novels by Nancy Pickard ("Kansas")



Challenging Empire: How People, Governments, and the UN Defy US Power by Phyllis Bennis (interviewed on DN!)


Featured by Keith Olbermann, New (Powell's Sale): Rogue State: A Guide to the World's Only Superpower by William Blum (whose other books merit serious consideration)


"Explosive" State of War: The Secret History of the CIA and the Bush Administration
by James Risen


The book the CIA doesn't want you to read: Jawbreaker: The Attack on Bin Laden and Al Qaeda: A Personal Account by the CIA's Key Field Commander
Larry Johnson's review


BT's all-time best seller:

PERMACULTURE:
A Designers' Manual

$79.95 * Sale: $59.95


Unequal Sisters: A Multicultural Reader in U.S. Women's History (Third Edition)


The Undercover Economist: Exposing Why the Rich Are Rich, the Poor Are Poor And Why You Can Never Buy a Decent Used Car!


The Worst Hard Time: The Untold Story of Those Who Survived the Great American Dust Bowl
by Timothy Egan


Green Press Initiative
----- * ^ * -----


Journalistas: 100 Years of the Best Writing and Reporting by Women Journalists by Eleanor Mills * NYT review


Bury Me Standing: the Gypsies & Their Journey


1491: New Revelations of the Americas before Columbus



Brokeback Mountain
by Annie Proulx
----- * ^ * -----
Check out Powell's
"At The Movies"


Imperial Ambitions: Conversations on the Post-9/11 World by Noam Chomsky (Power & Terror: Post 9-11 Talks)


The Price of Privilege:

How Parental Pressure and
Material Advantage Are Creating a Generation of
Disconnected and Unhappy Kids

by Madeline Levine


Save 35-70% on
name brand clothing,
footwear, and outdoor gear
at SierraTradingPost.com

:





We listened to PEN American Center's "State of Emergency" and found 1940s books by Curzio Malaparte only at Alibris. (Selection (MP3) excerpted from "The Skin.")

Alibris - Books You Thought You'd Never Find
Banned Books * Are you a fan of Film Noir, Art House, Documentaries or Hong Kong Action? * Searching for a long-lost children's book or a first printing of Miles Davis' Kind of Blue on vinyl? Find it at Alibris!

:
:
www.Patagonia.com


Listed on BlogShares

© 2009 Booman Tribune