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Let's Review How Pathetically, Laughably Bad Roanoke College "Polls" Are

Thursday, September 19, 2013


Since Roanoke College is out with a new "poll" (using the word EXTREMELY loosely) this morning, I thought it would be a good opportunity to review how pathetically, laughably bad these "polls" really are (note: today's "poll" has the Dems up, but it doesn't matter - these "polls" are garbage no matter what they show). Here are a few lowlights:*The most hilariously, outrageously awful pollster of Virginia during the 2012 cycle was, by far, Roanoke College. Starting off in March 2011, with a poll that can't even really be called "crap," because that's an insult to good fecal material everywhere, is this, this...thing, showing George Allen leading Tim Kaine by - wait for it - 13 points (!!!). Uh guys? Bwahahahahahahaha.
*Another truly abysmal Roanoke College poll came on October 31, 2012just days before the election. In this debacle, Roanoke College had Kaine and Obama both DOWN five points in Virginia, meaning that they missed the final results a few days later by 9 and 11 points, respectively. Wow.
*Even more hilariously, that Roanoke College "poll" (using the word VERY loosely) came just a few weeks afteranother one of their "polls" showed Obama up 8 points and Kaine up 10 points. That's right, according to Roanoke College, there was a 15-point swing towards Romney and Allen in Virginia during October 2012. Seriously, just shut this "pollster" down and spare us all the misery. (Note: I thought about looking at Roanoke College "polls"' internals, but then I thought, why even bother, these polls are so awful it doesn't even matter what the internals are, might as well have just pulled them out of their butts for all they're worth...)
*Nate Silver ranked all the pollsters from the 2012 presidential race, and Roanoke College finished 6th worst in the entire country (out of about 90 polls), with an "average error" and pro-GOP "bias" of 8.1 points each.
So, again, I urge all media organizations to ignore Roanoke College polls, whether they show Democrats up, down, tied, upside-down, whatever. Not that they ever listen to anyone's advice, so screw it, just carry on fine media organizations...just like you do with the mass shooting stories and everything else you get wildly wrong all the time.