Statement from from Todd Goodman, Chairman of the Oklahoma Democratic Party, in response to the recently released Rasmussen poll:
“Yes, we have seen the recent Rasmussen Poll out but we want to heavily warn voters against taking this poll seriously. Many have reported on the conservative skew of the Rasmussen polls in the recent elections.
Political Scientist Alan Abramowitz from Emory University said Rasmussen polls are heavily skewed toward older, white republican voters. In addition, Rasmussen themselves have admitted to a conservative screen. Their polls are frequently funded by Republican candidates and the Republican National Committee, so it stands to reason the data may be tailored to tell those groups what they want to hear.
One example of Rasmussen’s skew is the U.S. Senate race in Colorado between Bob Schaffer and Mark Udall. Rasmussen was the only pollster to ever show Schaffer with a lead, and they did it twice. Throughout the rest of the campaign, Rasmussen’s data consistently showed a closer margin than any other poll, and the data missed the final result by four points.
The wide gap this poll shows between Fallin and Askins is completely outside the realm of reality. RGA out of Washington has funneled hundreds of thousands of dollars into Oklahoma to buy ads supporting Fallin and falsely attacking Askins. If this was a shoo-in for Fallin, as this poll indicates, they would spend their resources in a more competitive race.
I maintain this is a close race as Jari Askins is the candidate who best represents Oklahomans. She is working hard across the state and has a history of surprising people on election day with a victory. I believe this year will not be any different, and on Nov. 2, Oklahomans will be looking at Jari Askins as their next governor.”
Posted on
Tue, October 5, 2010
by Joshua