Fox "News" shovels ham-fisted "journalism" RE: Big Dog & Teabag DeathGrin AssClown Sharron Angle

After helping lead candidates in other states to unexpected victories, former President Bill Clinton takes aim at Republican nominee Sharron Angle in Nevada, to help vulnerable Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid.

http://www.foxnews.com/

Rejuvenated Bill Clinton Takes Aim at Tea Party Darling Sharron Angle

Published June 12, 2010
FOXNews.com

http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2010/06/12/rejuvenated-clinton-takes-aim-tea-party-darling-sharron-angle/



Former President Bill Clinton is hitting the campaign trail in Nevada to help vulnerable Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid overcome Republican nominee Sharron Angle. (AP)

Bubba is back and now he's got a Tea Party favorite in his crosshairs.

After helping lead candidates in Pennsylvania and Arkansas to unexpected victories in recent weeks, former President Bill Clinton is now hitting the campaign trail in Nevada to help vulnerable Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid overcome Republican nominee Sharron Angle.

And according to the newest Rasmussen poll, Clinton has his work cut out for him.

The poll shows Angle leading 50 to 39 percent. The poll was taken one day after Angle won the GOP primary and likely reflects a post-primary bounce.

When that poll is averaged with two others taken right before the primary, Angle has a much smaller lead.

Nate Silver, FiveThirtyEight.com, April 17, 2010



The bottom line is this: the sample included in Rasmussen's polling is increasingly out of balance with that observed by almost all other pollsters. This appears to create a substantial house effect, irrespective of whether Rasmussen subsequently applies a likely voter screen.

It also appears to be a relatively new facet of their polling. If one looks at the partisan identification among all adults in polls conducted in September-November 2008, Rasmussen gave the Democrats at 6.5-point edge, versus an average of 8.7 points for the other pollsters; their house effect was marginal if there was one at all.

Techniques like weighting can correct for some of this response bias, but it can be an imperfect defense, particularly for pollsters like Rasmussen who have very low response rates (because of their "flash" one-night samples and their use of IVR technology).

If, on the other hand, this is a feature rather than a bug, it requires a more robust explanation from Rasmussen. It is not sufficient, after all, to believe that Rasmussen is getting it right: you also have to believe that almost everyone else is getting it wrong.

Their use of a likely voter model alone is not sufficient to explain the differences. Citing Rasmussen's success in calling past election outcomes, which is formidable, is also somewhat non-responsive, since their house effect was not so substantial in past election cycles.