Bartlett Campaign Manager Questions Poll

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE 6/24/10

Contact: John Bauer 802-279-7222 john.bauer@bartlettforgovernor.com



John Bauer, Susan Bartlett's Campaign Manager, questioned the validity of the recent Rasmussen poll on the gubernatorial race. "It's method of gathering information and the questions they asked have little or no bearing on the democratic primary on Aug. 24." she said. "It does not indicate which candidate likely voters in the democratic primary prefer."

His reservations are summed up by Eric Davis' post on vtdigger.com.

"Rasmussen polls should be interpreted cautiously. As explained at the \methodology\ link on Rasmussen’s Web site, Rasmussen uses automated prompts with touch-tone responses rather than live operators to collect its data. The Rasmussen method is not as effective as live operators in coming up with a sample that includes likely voters. (For example, how effective is an automated response system in screening out those under 18 who pick up the phone?) Also, rather than make calling a larger number of respondents to get a sample that is representative in terms of age, gender, and other demographic characteristics, Rasmussen weights the responses they do get to come up with an adjusted sample." Davis wrote.
"Also, this poll is not much help in terms of trying to project results in the Democratic primary, since it attempts to measure candidates’ support in the general election."

“This poll told voters the primary is Sept. 14,” Bauer said. “I wonder what else they got wrong? A general election poll of 500 people does not measure the strength of any candidate in the primary.”