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How Rasmussen's right-wing bias has made it a laughing stock among major pollsters

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AGG

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Nov 24, 2009, 2:24:27 PM11/24/09
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There's are reasons most major news outlets don't often mention a
Rasmussen poll. One reason is because their questions are designed to
elicit responses that skew heavily to the right.

The second reason is that Rasmussen doesn't even use live operators or
ask for voice responses. They robo-call their phone list sample, which
is weighted more heavily to Republican households than the general
demographic, and they tabulate based on phone keypad responses. There's
no quality control in that polling - does voice mail or a fax machine
produce tones that Rasmussen counts as "yes" responses? Nobody knows.
Does no response produce a "yes" response? Nobody knows.

We do know that they're an outlier that always produces results that
guarantee favorable Fox News coverage and always agree with the GOP
talking points of the moment.

That's a little too coincidental for most news organizations to take
seriously.

What is consistent about Rasmussen's coverage of the health care debate
is their incessant desire to frame the debate in ways designed to
denigrate both the Congress and President Obama. One of the most insipid
examples of this was a survey earlier in the week in which Rasmussen
reported that two-thirds of voters believed that they understood the
health care reform proposal as well, or better, than President Obama.

Of course, there is objective evidence to prove that this poll is false.
Indeed, in the recent poll conducted for AARP, just thirty-seven percent
of Americans could correctly identify what is meant by a "public
option". Nearly one-half of voters either thought it was a total
nationalized healthcare program, or admitted that they had no idea.

They are not limited to right-wing cheerleading on the health care
issue. Check out the wording on this question about taxes and government
services, offered up this week on the front page of their website:
Do you agree or disagree with the following statement... it�s always
better to cut taxes than to increase government spending because
taxpayers, not bureaucrats, are the best judges of how to spend their
money?
Why stop there, Rasmussen? Why not add a parenthetical phrase about how
tax cuts regrow hair, whiten teeth, and ensure that your favorite team
will win the Super Bowl this year?

Once you've already loaded a question with biased wording (this
question, when stripped down, is basically asking people whether they
like themselves more, or bureaucrats), you might as well go big or go home.

Amazingly, with their word construction, people favored tax cuts 62-20.
Legitimate pollsters, however, word the question very differently.
Earlier in the year, both Pew and CBS asked the question simply, and
without bias. The wording between the two varied slightly, but the basic
construction was: "What do you think would benefit the economy more at
this time: cutting taxes on individuals and businesses, or increasing
spending on items like infrastructure and other programs?"

Not surprisingly, without the loaded wording, the question was
considerably closer.

Stephen Adams

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Nov 24, 2009, 6:46:47 PM11/24/09
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AGG <a...@nospam.org> writes:

>There's are reasons most major news outlets don't often mention a
>Rasmussen poll. One reason is because their questions are designed to
>elicit responses that skew heavily to the right.

Typical lefty. Shoot the messenger who brings you bad news. Go back
and review who was most accurate last election. Go on.

http://www.speroforum.com/site/article.asp?idCategory=33&idsub=134&id=16643&t=Polling+the+polls%3A+Who+were+the+most+accurate%3F

You lie and lie. Typical lefty moron.

-Stephen
--
Stephen Adams
crathv...@tznvy.pbz (rot13)

Alexander Arnakis

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Nov 24, 2009, 9:30:15 PM11/24/09
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On 24 Nov 2009 23:46:47 GMT, Stephen Adams <ada...@no.spam> wrote:
>
>Typical lefty. Shoot the messenger who brings you bad news. Go back
>and review who was most accurate last election. Go on.
>
Rasmussen has a well-known Republican bias.

Archimandrite Josef

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Nov 24, 2009, 10:25:27 PM11/24/09
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Alexander Arnakis wrote:

***So you've claimed before, but Rasmussen has been lauded for
conducting the fairest polls. Deal with it, Alex.

--

Alexander Arnakis

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Nov 24, 2009, 10:22:35 PM11/24/09
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On 25 Nov 2009 03:25:27 GMT, "Archimandrite Josef"
<mona...@athos.org> wrote:

>Alexander Arnakis wrote:
>
> >
>> Rasmussen has a well-known Republican bias.
>
>***So you've claimed before, but Rasmussen has been lauded for
>conducting the fairest polls. Deal with it, Alex.

Who does the "lauding"? Your usual right-wing sources?

Alfred G. Green Jr.

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Nov 25, 2009, 12:38:10 AM11/25/09
to
Stephen Adams wrote:
> AGG <a...@nospam.org> writes:
>
>> There's are reasons most major news outlets don't often mention a
>> Rasmussen poll. One reason is because their questions are designed to
>> elicit responses that skew heavily to the right.
>
> Typical lefty. Shoot the messenger who brings you bad news. Go back
> and review who was most accurate last election. Go on.
>

***Not so. The pollster is well known for being a GOP water carrier. You
see otherwise because you're intellectually compromised.


***Spero News??? That's a fucking far right news site!

***Nice try, hippie. Play with the kids if your looking for dupes.

Stephen Adams

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Nov 25, 2009, 6:52:00 AM11/25/09
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Alexander Arnakis <inv...@invalid.invalid> writes:

Rasmussen is most accurate. See:

http://www.speroforum.com/site/article.asp?idCategory=33&idsub=134&id=16643&t=Polling+the+polls%3A+Who+were+the+most+accurate%3F

Perhaps if you repeat your line about bias enough, somone besides fake Al
will buy it. But then the truth will hit home:

The following list ranks the 23 organizations by the accuracy of their final, national preelection 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)

Stephen Adams

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Nov 25, 2009, 6:53:33 AM11/25/09
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"Alfred G. Green Jr." <Convicted.Sex.O...@NorthPaHalfwayHouse.com> writes:

>Stephen Adams wrote:
>> AGG <a...@nospam.org> writes:
>>
>>> There's are reasons most major news outlets don't often mention a
>>> Rasmussen poll. One reason is because their questions are designed to
>>> elicit responses that skew heavily to the right.
>>
>> Typical lefty. Shoot the messenger who brings you bad news. Go back
>> and review who was most accurate last election. Go on.
>
>***Not so. The pollster is well known for being a GOP water carrier. You
>see otherwise because you're intellectually compromised.

And yet, they were the most accurate. Deal with it.

>> http://www.speroforum.com/site/article.asp?idCategory=33&idsub=134&id=16643&t=Polling+the+polls%3A+Who+were+the+most+accurate%3F
>>
>> You lie and lie. Typical lefty moron.
>>
>> -Stephen
>
>
>***Spero News??? That's a fucking far right news site!
>
>***Nice try, hippie. Play with the kids if your looking for dupes.

My kids are more discenring, smarter and much more balanced than you.
They'd never THINK of lying like you do. They'd be horrified at the
lies you tell and that you think you can get away with it.

John Galt

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Nov 25, 2009, 7:56:25 AM11/25/09
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Hm. A bias that leads them to get the most accurate results.......

"Bias" or "smarter polling techniques"?


JG

Archimandrite Josef

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Nov 25, 2009, 8:34:10 AM11/25/09
to
Alfred G. Green Jr. wrote:

> Stephen Adams wrote:
> >AGG <a...@nospam.org> writes:
> >
> > > There's are reasons most major news outlets don't often mention a
> > > Rasmussen poll. One reason is because their questions are
> > > designed to elicit responses that skew heavily to the right.
> >
> > Typical lefty. Shoot the messenger who brings you bad news. Go
> > back and review who was most accurate last election. Go on.
> >
>
> ***Not so. The pollster is well known for being a GOP water carrier.
> You see otherwise because you're intellectually compromised.
>
> > http://www.speroforum.com/site/article.asp?idCategory=33&idsub=134&i
> > d=16643&t=Polling+the+polls%3A+Who+were+the+most+accurate%3F
> >
> > You lie and lie. Typical lefty moron.
> >
> > -Stephen
>
>

***Posted by Bitchslapped nick Kobbs.

--

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