by Rigorous Intuition » Tue Feb 28, 2006 10:39 am
I think this is an interesting spin to see <!--EZCODE ITALIC START--><em>The Washington Times</em><!--EZCODE ITALIC END--> float now Bush is polling in the mid-30s, and the differential needs more than mere tweaking.<br><br><!--EZCODE BOLD START--><strong>Polling analysis finds GOP in the lead</strong><!--EZCODE BOLD END--><br><br>Most polls say a majority of registered voters would vote Democrat if the congressional elections were held today, but a new independent polling analysis now finds that Republicans could lead among people who actually vote.<br><br>The CNN/USA Today/Gallup Poll reported last week that the Democrats led Republicans among registered voters in the generic congressional survey by 50 percent to 43 percent, a seven-point margin that could give Democrats enough victories to take control of the House, if their supporters participate in November's elections.<br><br>But a deeper analysis of these numbers by David W. Moore for the Gallup Poll said, "It is likely many voters will not do so" because turnout among registered voters tends to be lower than that among "likely voters" who say they plan to vote and usually do.<br><br>In his analysis, Mr. Moore writes that Gallup's "experience over the past two midterm elections, in 1998 and 2002, suggests that the [registered voters] numbers tend to <!--EZCODE BOLD START--><strong>overstate the Democratic margin by about 10 percentage points</strong><!--EZCODE BOLD END-->."<br><br><!--EZCODE BOLD START--><strong>"Given that Democrats currently lead by seven points, that could mean that among people who will definitely vote, Republicans actually lead by three to four points," he said.<br></strong><!--EZCODE BOLD END--><br>Republican election strategists long have maintained the so-called generic numbers, in which voters are asked which party they will support in the elections, without mentioning a specific candidate, skew in favor of the Democrats.<br><br>Mr. Moore's admission about past generic polls of registered voters is rare, coming from a major polling organization, Republican campaign strategists said last week. <br><br><br><!--EZCODE LINK START--><a href="http://www.washtimes.com/national/20060227-123359-5955r.htm">Washington Times</a><!--EZCODE LINK END--> <p></p><i></i>