Rigged Polls Past and Present

I think it past time to call out the “Mainstream” News Media for their rigged polls.  Yesterday’s CBS/NYT/Quinnipiac poll is one egregious example.  That poll uses samples that assume an electorate tilted more heavily Democratic than in 2008!

Such absurd rigging smells of agenda polling, polls designed to shape public opinion rather than measure it.

Now I am concerned about this election, very concerned.  It is close.  And you do not want to get me started on the consequences of an Obama victory.  But the rigged polls of NBC, the New York Times, the Washington Post, etc. are practically in-kind contributions to the Obama campaign and are literally incredible.

Although the poll rigging may be descending to new depths with this election, it is nothing new from the “Mainstream” News Media.  Jeffrey Lord presents an interesting look back at polling in 1980 and 1984 cleverly entitled “How Carter beat Reagan”.

And remember that back in those pre-internet days, it was much more difficult to debunk and counteract the skewed news media polls.  Now, to be fair, the 1980 race did break strong for Reagan towards the end, and that accounts in part for the polls missing the final result, but only in part.

By the way, if you want trustworthy polls to look at, I highly recommend Rasmussen Reports, particularly their presidential polls.  No pollster is perfect, but he may be the best.