I’m sure we’ve all been besieged by this barrage of information purporting to come from the “Harvard-Harris Poll.” Headlines like Poll: Americans overwhelmingly oppose sanctuary cities, and Poll reveals majority of Americans want Democrats to work with Trump, and Harvard Poll: Americans Brimming With Confidence on Jobs, Economy are drawing rapturous responses from the likes of Kellyanne Conway and Rush Limbaugh. According to one Hill article, “Harvard-Harris Poll is a collaboration of the Harvard Center for American Political Studies and the Harris Poll.” Its “co-director” appears to be Mark Penn, apparently of Hillary Clinton 2008 fame. The “Harvard-Harris Poll” offers a lot of slick graphics to go with its snazzy numbers, but lacks that most elementary of internet accoutrements: a website.
So I looked for information about the “Harvard-Harris Poll” on the Harvard Center for American Political Studies website. Not a peep about this epoch-making collaboration. The same is true of the Harris Poll website, which looks like it might have died last month. I also checked to see if the Hill itself had announced the rollout somewhere along the line, but no dice. The "Harvard-Harris Poll” came online with no fanfare and just spouting some seriously strange looking numbers. I can’t believe that a site of the Hill’s quality has been catfished. I know for a fact that Mark Penn exists. But I can’t escape the feeling that something hinky is going on here. Somebody please clue me in.