Posted by Toby Heaps at Nader 2008 blog
We do fairly poorly on the Gallup poll, generally registering less than 1 percent (or about 5 times less than the recent WSJ poll). This is probably because they don’t mention Ralph Nader’s name in the question–just Obama and McCain.
So I phoned up Gallup’s Editor-in-Chief (609-924-9600), and asked him if they had any kind of objective threshold which we could strive toward so that Ralph Nader’s name could be included as part of the primary question.
His answer: “No. We use our internal judgment to decide. We do some open-ended questions and variety of other criteria, and then our editorial team makes a decision.” I asked if there were any ballpark levels of support in the open-ended question they looked to as a threshold, and he repeated his mantra, that it was subject to “internal judgment criteria,” and then jumped off to take another call.
He was kind enough to leave me with his e-mail to follow up. Anyone who wants to let Newport know what you think of his internal judegment, please call him or e-mail him at [email protected].
In order to be fair and unbiased, Gallup needs to include Rlaph Nader and other ballot-qualified candidates for president in the **lead question** of its surveys about the race. If Gallup does not do this, it is effectively privileging the two major-party candidates and unfairly shutting out the challengers.
According to Jeffrey M. Jones’ Aug. 12 article on the Gallup website, Gallup asks respondents only about Obama and McCain in its daily USA Today tracking polls. Yet in its Aug. 7-10 survey on third-party candidates, they did not even mention the names of those candidates.
How can either of these methods possibly give an accurate picture of the voters’ interests and wishes? Both polls seem designed to “black out†candidates like Nader, who is on the ballot in 45 states. The Aug. 7-10 poll seems especially unfair, in spite of Jones’ assertion that Gallup leaves out the candidates’ names in the interest of “putting all candidates on equal footing.”
“Equal”? In fact, Gallup’s methods put even more distance between the major-party and minor-party candidates. With the USA Today poll, Gallup gives the two major-party candidates a veritable daily advertisement in a nationwide newspaper that reaches millions. But in the poll that supposedly focuses on third-party candidates, Gallup is suddenly interested in “equal” treatment. This, even though major media chronically give the Democratic and Republican nominees round-the-clock coverage of every move they make and every word they say, while providing hardly any time at all to third-party candidates.
Gallup needs to revise its methodology, in order to make its polling fair—and accurate.
Here is mine:
According to polls I have seen, about half of the country opposed the recent $700 billion bailout.
Both Obama and McCain came out in favor of the bailout and ALL of the significant third party candidates, regardless of their political affiliations, came out against it.
So, how do you explain any exclusion of the latter candidates from your polling efforts? Or is your purpose not to gauge public opinion, but to manage it?
My email to the Gallup Poll
Dear Mr. Newport,
During an important election cycle such as this, where more and more Americans are becoming disenchanted with the corporate controlled two-party system, I request that you consider including third party candidates in your phone surveys. Without them being included, it marginalizes their campaigns and does not providing scientific methodology, thus obtaining skewed results.
With the economy collapsing, along with our environment and liberties, I feel it is imperative that you provide a fair playing field and allow the individuals being polled a more honest representation of what their choices are on November 4th.
Thank you for your consideration in this matter,
Danene Provencher,
Mound, MN