Beware of Exit Polls
Will they or won’t they – take a few minutes to take an exit poll, that is?
Will they or won’t they – take a few minutes to take an exit poll, that is?
The biggest loser in this 2008 election is obvious even before the first vote has been counted: conventional wisdom. Remember last year when Hillary Rodham Clinton was considered the shoo-in for the Democratic Party's presidential nomination, after which she was supposed to waltz into the Oval Office?
Like all polling firms, Rasmussen Reports weights its data to reflect the population at large. Among other targets, Rasmussen Reports weights data by political party affiliation using a dynamic weighting process.
During the final full week of Election 2008, voters told us the same thing they’ve been saying since mid-September—Barack Obama has a modest but stable lead in the race for the White House.
Nearly two-thirds of U.S. voters (63%) say Barack Obama is more likely than John McCain to restrict an individual’s right to own a gun, according to a new Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey.
Forty-five percent (45%) of U.S. voters say they did not watch any of Barack Obama’s 30-minute television advertisement Wednesday night, according to a new Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey.
It is time for this election to be over. It is time because it has been going on for what feels like a lifetime, because the final days have been full of noise and fury and very little light, and because we need to start solving problems rather than just debating them.
The Democrats have skipped to a seven-point lead in the final Election 2008 edition of the generic congressional ballot. The latest Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey found that, if given the choice, 47% of voters would choose their district’s Democratic candidate, while 40% would choose the Republican candidate.
Thirty-nine percent (39%) of Americans believe it is at least somewhat likely that gasoline will drop below $2 per gallon before the end of the year, but nearly as many (33%) say it will cost over $4 a gallon by then, according to a new Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey.
As Election Day 2008 approaches with the prospect of a Democrat in the White House and Democratic control of the Congress, only one-third (34%) of U.S. voters think rule by one political party is better for the country.
Do newspaper endorsements influence voters? I refer to the candidate picks printed on the biodegradable news products that digital and cable commentators dismiss as "old media" but talk about nothing but.
Barack Obama has waged a brilliant, disciplined campaign for the White House. To the extent that Obama's campaign demonstrates his strategic and organizational abilities, the junior Illinois senator has the potential to be a great leader.
Writing a post-mortem for John McCain's presidential candidacy would be premature. But if and when that moment comes next week, toxic staff infection will be listed as a primary cause of death.
These are our 2008 election projections as of Thursday, October 30. We will make final adjustments and tweaks on Monday afternoon, November 3, and post them to the website. At that point, we will attempt to call the few remaining toss-ups.
After several weeks of John McCain’s campaign attacks on Barack Obama’s tax plan and idea of “spreading the wealth around”, the latest Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey finds voters trust McCain more than Obama on taxes, 47% to 45%.
Eighty-seven percent (87%) of U.S. voters say elections are important to the overall health of the stock market, but voters are evenly divided on the impact of either John McCain or Barack Obama winning on Tuesday.
Now even Opie and the Fonz are for Barack Obama.
As Obama's election has seemed to become more likely in the past six weeks, a quiet but public debate has arisen among both Republicans and Democrats that wonders which Obama we might get.
I have one word of advice for the fancy folks at the Republican National Committee who shelled out $75,000 at Neiman Marcus and $50,000 at Saks Fifth Avenue, among other places, to dress Sarah Palin and family: Loehmann's.
With victory in sight, Barack Obama's supporters are predicting that he will give us a new New Deal. To see what that might mean, let's look back on the original New Deal.