Another essentially useless Rasmussen poll

Rasmussen? You mean the "Polling wing of the RNC?" (0.00 / 0)

Rasmussen has no credibility for their robo polls anymore:

The surveys seem to exist solely to advance GOP talking points. Meaning, Rasmussen at times appears to function less as a legitimate polling firm and more as the polling wing of the RNC.

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by: JC @ Sat Aug 15, 2009 at 18:07:19 PM UTC

Goodness JC.... (0.00 / 0)

I never knew Media Matters was THE decider of such things.

I guess Fordham University must have overlooked Media Matters' importance in Fordham's survey:  http://www.fordham.edu/images/...

#1 for accuracy was Rasmussen.

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by: Craig Moore @ Sat Aug 15, 2009 at 19:35:38 PM UTC

[ Parent ]

Cherry picking (0.00 / 0)

one poll does not a trend make.

I look at Rass' polling and come up with the same conclusion. Robo calls just aren't an accurate indicator of pubic attitudes. Mix that in with hedged questions, and you've got a poll designed to prove whatever you want.

And if pubic policy was dictated by polling, we would have been out of Iraq years ago.

Rassmusen is just trolling for funding for the '10 election cycle.

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by: JC @ Sat Aug 15, 2009 at 20:32:40 PM UTC

[ Parent ]

JC there's Pollster (0.00 / 0)

which tells a similar story to Rasmussen.

Healthcare Issue -- Oppose 49% Favor 39.6% http://www.pollster.com/polls/...

Obama Job Approval Healthcare -- 47.9% Disapprove 42.3% Approve  http://www.pollster.com/polls/...

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by: Craig Moore @ Sat Aug 15, 2009 at 21:06:21 PM UTC

[ Parent ]

you miss the point... (0.00 / 0)

Rasmussen's poll is fatally flawed. There is no one health care bill in Congress. There are six. So by answering the question, the polled show they don't understand the issue. How can you say this is accurate?

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by: Jay Stevens @ Sat Aug 15, 2009 at 21:21:49 PM UTC

[ Parent ]

You seem to be missing the point (0.00 / 0)

As we say in the trading biz; it's not the news that matters.  It's the reaction to the news that matters.

From the standpoint of "winning the message" Team Obama is losing.  Not that it will stay that way. Americans are a fickle bunch.

Every major poling form is asking the same question.  So even if your indictment is right it's not only Rasmussen who's wrong.

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by: Dave Budge @ Sun Aug 16, 2009 at 04:25:43 AM UTC

[ Parent ]

I acknowlege that... (0.00 / 0)

the polls seems to be a disingenuous attempt to create that impression. i'm correcting it. maybe some folks are nervous about it; they shouldn't be, imho

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by: Jay Stevens @ Sun Aug 16, 2009 at 18:48:22 PM UTC

[ Parent ]

useless? (0.00 / 0)

Let me take a long shot here Jay -

any of the polls showing Obamas popularity dropping like a rock, (all of them) or the American publics' dislike for the governments proposed takeover of healthcare are useless, right?

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by: Eric Coobs @ Sat Aug 15, 2009 at 20:00:06 PM UTC

yes... (0.00 / 0)

...absolutely.

Now if your claim were true...but it's not, because we know that consumers of Medicare/Medicaid and the VA system are very happy with the insurance and service they receive, higher than those with private insurance and non-socialized health care.

The output of polls vary greatly on the question. I'm sure if Rasmussen asked people, "would you favor a health care plan that gave you the freedom to choose your kind of health insurance, which would included a governt-provided insurance option?" you know a great majority would say, "hell, yeah!" Which is essentially the basis for the reform in Congress.

But that's the thing. Most people don't understand the reform. You're a sterling example, Eric, when you write that Americans dislike "the governments [sic] proposed takeover of healthcare," because that's not at all what's being proposed. Far from it. How can you oppose something you don't really oppose?

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by: Jay Stevens @ Sat Aug 15, 2009 at 21:19:42 PM UTC

[ Parent ]

Dropping like a rock... (0.00 / 0)

yeah right. You guys wish...

Look at Rasmussen..even at the height of Obama's popularity they had "disapproval" numbers considerably higher than all other polls...in fact, at the height of his popularity they had is negative numbers at 41%...only 2% less than all polls averaged out have today...

Perhaps their phone pool is a tad bias?

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by: bigsage @ Sat Aug 15, 2009 at 20:22:16 PM UTC

whose butt is hurting rusty? the credibility of the tea baggers is dropping hourly (0.00 / 0)

as the lies they spew are dispelled one by one....
and obama's numbers are rising accordingly.
the more violent the tea baggers get the more
they lose credibility with responsible voters.

time is on our side rusty. truth eventually wins out. this ignorant bunch of hillbillys, duped clueless followers and skinhead's offensive tactics at the town halls will make the elections in 2010 much easier for centrists and liberals.

in the final analysis major trendlines show plummeting numbers for the grand old party...........

because you idiots have chosen to veer toward the politics of insane luntatics like rush limbaugh and sarah palin the party of no is losing demographics in all the wrong areas- hispanics, blacks, indians, middle class, working poor,  women, young people and informed voters. eventually, all the gop will have left is a bunch of old white guys sitting around their computers gloating about the old days.

i couldn't be happier right now.

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by: problembear @ Sun Aug 16, 2009 at 17:46:53 PM UTC

Pbear standing on head (0.00 / 0)

The only way you can view the chart http://www.pollster.com/polls/...  as Obama's numbers are rising. Pay attention to the red line.

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by: Craig Moore @ Sun Aug 16, 2009 at 18:02:21 PM UTC

[ Parent ]

good poker players (0.00 / 0)

pay more attention to the cards showing than the false bravado of a desperate bluff mr moore. i see you don't have much showing and i think you have bird rock in your future thanks to the poorly chosen tactics of the gop. obama does too and he is going to call.

i am hoping the gop goes all in on this. you are losing more centrist republicans every day as they realize the party of no has lost its center. i know. i talk to them. the question is, do any of the far right talk to anyone but themselves anymore? because this stance on health care is sheer stupidity. i know die hard republicans who support health care reform. they cannot pay their insurance premiums and they cannot get the insurance companies to honor their contracts.

aligning yourselves with skinheads and insurance weasels is a sure way to watch your trend lines plummet further. so keep doing it. i will be smiling over here where our ranks grow bigger each day with the disenfranchised republican voters.

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by: problembear @ Sun Aug 16, 2009 at 18:46:59 PM UTC

Pbear changes the subject and (0.00 / 0)

resorts to personal invectives.  

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by: Craig Moore @ Sun Aug 16, 2009 at 19:03:09 PM UTC

[ Parent ]

thought we were having a conversation craig (0.00 / 0)

don't tell me you are back to whining again. and we were making such progress with you.

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by: problembear @ Sun Aug 16, 2009 at 19:06:55 PM UTC

[ Parent ]

You are sleazy (0.00 / 0)

Skinheads et al.  Just sleazy because you can't carry a conversation with real argument without such references. Not a whine.  Just an observation as you hide behind your nom de guerre. It is rather humorous to watch such a display of courage.  Try defeating the argument instead of crutching with your sleaze.

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by: Craig Moore @ Sun Aug 16, 2009 at 19:12:19 PM UTC

[ Parent ]

did you see skinheads in our ranks craig? (0.00 / 0)

because it is well documented that the tea bagging contingent has plenty of them.

wanna know what i think? i think you know that your show cards are all you got. and the bluff is not working.

better get ready for the push back on this anti health tactic of yours. because it is coming. we call.

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by: problembear @ Sun Aug 16, 2009 at 19:21:16 PM UTC

Sleazy, you still got nutin' (0.00 / 0)

to support your claim about Obama. Prove Pollster's chart is wrong.  

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by: Craig Moore @ Sun Aug 16, 2009 at 19:31:34 PM UTC

[ Parent ]

It's not about the polls, Craig (0.00 / 0)

It's about the votes, and the dems had them last fall. If the voters don't like what they get in two years, then the election will show that. If the voters don't like what they see in '12, then Obama will pay the price and be a one term president.

Polls are nothing more than snapshots in time, and poor ones at that when it comes to issues that are being debated, and which are being fought in the media by people offering lies as truths, and a media that is more absorbed in perpetuating the conflict than in digging into truths and falsehoods.

Obama and dems need to float above the chaos and the lies, deliver what they promised to the voters, and then take it to the booths for a referendum on what people think.

I think that politicians playing into the push the poll game is politics at its worst.

If the tea baggers are allowed to drive policy, then the future of politics will be aligned with who can funnel money and direction to the most outrageous groups, and the media will salivate over ratings pushed by reality protesters.

Basically, what we are seeing is a new generation of Reality TV ratings in the guise of Rassmusen and others' polls.

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by: JC @ Sun Aug 16, 2009 at 22:18:00 PM UTC

[ Parent ]

JC, I agree (0.00 / 0)

 about push polls.  Those are about shaping opinion rather than taking the temperature.  When we don't have ongoing votes, the pulse is measured by polls. HOWEVER, the reality is that polls have a niche with politicians and those that depend on seance science.

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by: Craig Moore @ Sun Aug 16, 2009 at 23:04:25 PM UTC

[ Parent ]

it's a long game craig (0.00 / 0)

i wouldn't push all those chips into the pot just yet based on that one poll craig, but i encourage the gop to do just that.... trend lines don't lie. the gop is without a center. the only thing it has is the lunatic fringe. this poll won't help you much in 14 months. like i said. time is on our side. i watch trend lines - not daily polls- that is just you grasping at straws and not worth my time to prove a thing.

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by: problembear @ Sun Aug 16, 2009 at 19:39:46 PM UTC

Sleazybear, Pollster is a TREND (0.00 / 0)

line chart. November 08 thru now.  http://www.pollster.com/polls/...  Notice the downward TREND in approval and the upward TREND in disapproval.  

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by: Craig Moore @ Sun Aug 16, 2009 at 20:23:02 PM UTC

[ Parent ]

pretty typical for a new president craig.... (0.00 / 0)

and a darn sight better than most.

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by: problembear @ Sun Aug 16, 2009 at 21:05:34 PM UTC

Sleazybear wrong again (0.00 / 0)

http://www.realclearpolitics.c...

>>>>>>>>>>>>>
The bar is 65. That's the average 100-day approval rating for the ten presidents between 1953 and 2009. Obama will likely be narrowly underachieving when the milestone comes to pass, perhaps earning 63 percent. That would place Obama between Richard Nixon and Jimmy Carter in the public's view.
<<<<<<<<<<<<

His job approval has continued to trend DOWNward since that assessment. So he ranks somewhere between 4-5 for the last 10 presidents.

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by: Craig Moore @ Sun Aug 16, 2009 at 21:26:31 PM UTC

[ Parent ]

It helps to understand polling ... (0.00 / 0)

No one up there cares what the public thinks. If they did, we'd have single payer.

The purpose of polling is to gauge the effect of propaganda campaigns. Are they having an effect? Is there a shift?

That's all. It's an attempt to measure the effectiveness of the top-down advertising and agitprop efforts to change public opinion. No one in leadership, save a few of good will, think that public opinion should become public policy. Public opinion is simply a facet of public management - one more thing that has to be fine-tuned via indoctrination.

Polling also serves a different purpose, which Jay hit on a bit. People follow leaders. Very few think for themselves, and an ungodly number of us, including most Democrats, align their opinions with perceived elite opinion, and still many others with the general flow. So Rasmussen is doing its job, setting up guidelines for formation of opinions for the undecided.

There are scientific polls. The results are usually not shared, but Zogby seems to try to find out what's really up. Because his results are so often at odds with politically correct results, he is demonized by the far right. He now and then says something true, and pays a price.

Part of the problem is this naive perception on the left that people think for themselves. The right knows better. That's why I have often said, and repeat, we are overmatched.  

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by: Mark t @ Mon Aug 17, 2009 at 04:26:30 AM UTC