I have been hard on Gallup throughout this primary and presidential election cycle. They have been up and down and all around. Who knows why? Maybe they have been tweaking their methodologies behind the scenes. There has been a flexibility in Gallup which has been annoying.
But Gallup is the only mainstream national tracking poll that has shown Obama holding his significant gains over the last three weeks. That's important for several reasons. First of all, the inherent Republican bias in most mainstream polls needs a counterbalance. When the white racists get on the horn to whoever owns Battleground and ARG, they respond with nice Republican favoring numbers. They can make anything seem like a dead heat.
Obama is lucky that Gallup apparently has not sold its soul to the Republicans. I am sure Frank Newport is going to take some heat for what he writes below. link
October 9, 2008
Gallup Daily: Obama 52%, McCain 41%
Obama maintains significant lead
USA Election 2008 Gallup Daily Americas Northern America
PRINCETON, NJ -- The latest Gallup Poll Daily tracking report shows Barack Obama maintaining a 52% to 41% lead over John McCain, unchanged from Wednesday's report.
These results, based on Oct. 6-8 polling, include one day of interviewing after Tuesday's debate in Nashville and come amid continuing consumer anxiety about the economy. Several of Gallup's economic tracking measures are as negative as has been measured at any time since daily tracking began this year. (To view the complete trend since March 7, 2008, click here.)
Signifying a general stability in the race, Obama has maintained a share of the vote between 48% and 52% over the last two weeks, while McCain's share during that same time period has been between 41% and 45%. The next and final presidential debate will be held Wednesday, Oct. 15 at Hofstra University in New York. -- Frank Newport
This Gallup poll may be partly responsible for Obama winning the election. Not just today's poll, but this daily tracker going forward.
The MSM usually refers to Gallup as the Standard Bearer of all polls.
Gallup's reputation for accuracy and fairness, earned or not, means that any bullshit polls contradicting Gallup will have to be taken with a grain of salt.
So the narrative regarding national polls going forward is controlled to a large degree by the Gallup numbers.
Three days in a row of double digit leads for Obama.
"Oh, but its up and down, this race is a see saw." says token Repub. tool.
"Well, what numbers support that comment" says Gallup influenced media.
None. No legitimate numbers support the "this is a close race" meme.
So thank you Gallup and Frank Newport. I will not forget what you have done to help the cause of democracy this year.