Is it REALLY so difficult to have polls include the candidate is both already officially running and ahead in polls in the first two primary states?! I was just reading here today of another match-up which excluded Bernie Sanders, and now the MSNBC page promotes the new MSNBC/Telemundo/Marist poll released today
Poll: Democrats claim resounding Latino support over GOP
No surprise, Democrats are apparently more appealing to Latinos than Republicans (shocker!).
I'm finding all kinds of older polls by these guys, but I'm only finding the one source from MSNBC for this brand new poll this evening:
Apparently, this collection of pollsters is doing no better than Mara Liasson with collecting data on BOTH the Democratic frontrunners (the ones ALREADY in the race) - the only comparison in this piece is Biden to Clinton (and how each is doing respectively against potential Republican opponents:
As speculation over a potential presidential bid from Biden has grown stronger in recent weeks, the latest poll suggests he may be more popular than Clinton if he formally entered the race. In head-to-head match-ups against Republican candidates, Biden beats out Clinton with slightly stronger support and by higher margins against Florida Sen. Marco Rubio, former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush and Texas Sen. Ted Cruz.
Biden 50%, Rubio 42%
Biden 50%, Bush 42%
Biden 54%, Cruz 39%
Compared to Clinton:
Clinton 50%, Rubio 44%
Clinton 49%, Bush 45%
Clinton 52%, Cruz 41%
The poll of hypothetical match-ups for 2016 was conducted Aug. 26 to Sept. 9 of 1,115 registered voters. It has a margin of error of +- 2.9 percentage points. The second match up polled 432 registered Latino voters. It has a margin of error of +- 6.2 percentage points.
To be clear, I do not take issue with the person who wrote this story, I take issue with the poll, itself, if in fact it chose to poll on Joe Biden (who is not yet in the race) as opposed to Bernie Sanders (the current Democratic front-runner in several New Hampshire and Iowa polls).
As I say, I haven't been able to find a link directly to the poll results themselves, but this doesn't mention Sanders.
Time will tell how the primary race turns out, but poll numbers and rally attendance show that Sanders' message is gaining traction.
This lack of full reporting is getting very, very, very old.
If you'd care to leave a comment for MSNBC, I found this contact information (undated - may be old) for an ombudsman:
Dan.Fisher@msnbc.com
And yes, I do see that there is now a diary on the topic of this poll now on the Rec List - it does not point out this omission.