Because polling leading up to and over the holiday's is basically useless (see Mark Blumenthal on why this is so), many people have been wondering when the next round of Big Media polls will be released so as not to be caught off guard. Below the fold some handy info to mark on your calendars. I hope people supporting all candidates will find this useful and maybe allow them to calm down and enjoy the holidays with their families rather than obsess...
My understanding is that MSNBC plans to release the next round of MSNBC/McClatchy polls done by Mason-Dixon next Sunday timed for the next edition of Meet The Press. These will show numbers for both parties in Iowa, New Hampshire and South Carolina.
The next Des Moines Register poll will likely go into the field on Wednesday and sample through Friday. Expect these results to be released late Saturday night for Sunday's paper.
This means that there will be two new highly respected Iowa polls out on Sunday December 30th -- the DMR poll and the MSNBC Mason-Dixon poll.
Do not be surprised if these show conflicting results. Polling Iowa caucus goers is a black art.
In addition to the madness above, Zogby will begin his Reuters-Zogby-C-SPAN polling later this week in all early states. Just to note: this is his real telephone poll, not that odd internet polling he has been experimenting with. This is the real live Zogby poll he is known for. These will also be daily tracking (rolling average) releases the way Rasmussen does.
Zogby's first Iowa poll will also be released on that crucial Sunday Dec 30th. What a crazy day of data that will be...
All this new data will render current data moot. It could also reset the race in strange ways considering how the media pickup the various results. The truth is nobody knows anything right now.
Zogby will be going right through to February 5th with his polling as well. Below is his schedule from his web site www.Zogby.com:
Daily Telephone Tracking in Iowa and NH
* Iowa (01/03/08) - 5 News Releases - 1st release 12/30
* New Hampshire (01/08/08) - 5 News Releases - 1st release 01/04
Additional States before February 5th
* Michigan - released 01/14
* Nevada - released 01/18
* South Carolina (R) - released 01/18
* South Carolina (D) - released 01/28
* Florida - released 01/28
February 5th States - all releases on 2/4
* Arkansas
* California
* Colorado
* Georgia
* Illinois
* Missouri
* New Jersey
* New Mexico (D only)
* New York
* Oklahoma
Monthly polls
* January-December 2008 telephone poll of 1,000 likely voters nationwide.