ChristinaB
09-18-2004, 08:04 AM
State GOP wants Star Tribune to suspend poll (http://www.startribune.com/stories/587/4987346.html)
State GOP wants Star Tribune to suspend poll
Patricia Lopez, Star Tribune
September 18, 2004
State Republican Party Chairman Ron Eibensteiner called Friday for the Star Tribune to suspend its Minnesota Poll until after the Nov. 2 election, saying the poll is "fatally flawed." The newspaper declined to do so.
"Our polling methodology is public and well-established, and the paper will continue to poll, report our results and publish other polls," Star Tribune Editor Anders Gyllenhaal said. "We will not be taking direction from any political party on polling or news judgment."
Last week, Eibensteiner called for the newspaper to fire its pollster for what he said was years of overrepresenting Democrats and underrepresenting Republicans in the Minnesota Poll. Days later, a new Minnesota Poll of likely voters showed Democratic presidential challenger Sen. John Kerry leading President Bush among likely voters, 50 percent to 41 percent.
Since that poll was released, three others have shown a much smaller gap. A CNN-Gallup Poll on Minnesota released Monday shows the race as a tie here, while a Minnesota Public Radio-Pioneer Press poll produced by the Mason Dixon research firm shows Bush ahead by two percentage points, 46 to 44.
The latest poll is that of Strategic Vision, a Republican-oriented national poll of likely voters that shows Kerry ahead in Minnesota by three percentage points, 48 to 45. Eibensteiner said Friday that the other polls "are one more piece of damning evidence showing that the Minnesota Poll is flawed and failing the voters of Minnesota."
Gyllenhaal said the variation in polls "suggests how much volatility there is in this campaign."
The controversy will be taken to the streets outside the Star Tribune's Minneapolis offices, according to a Web site called "Minnesota Democrats Exposed," which has announced a protest of the newspaper's polling methods. Republican officials alerted the newspaper to the planned demonstration by "concerned citizens" at noon Monday but said they are not involved in it.
Last week Gyllenhaal defended the poll's methodology, calling it "one of the most respected and accurate polls in the country for more than half a century." He branded the party's demand that the newspaper fire its longtime pollster, Rob Daves, a personal attack that was "shameful and misdirected."
Patricia Lopez
State GOP wants Star Tribune to suspend poll
Patricia Lopez, Star Tribune
September 18, 2004
State Republican Party Chairman Ron Eibensteiner called Friday for the Star Tribune to suspend its Minnesota Poll until after the Nov. 2 election, saying the poll is "fatally flawed." The newspaper declined to do so.
"Our polling methodology is public and well-established, and the paper will continue to poll, report our results and publish other polls," Star Tribune Editor Anders Gyllenhaal said. "We will not be taking direction from any political party on polling or news judgment."
Last week, Eibensteiner called for the newspaper to fire its pollster for what he said was years of overrepresenting Democrats and underrepresenting Republicans in the Minnesota Poll. Days later, a new Minnesota Poll of likely voters showed Democratic presidential challenger Sen. John Kerry leading President Bush among likely voters, 50 percent to 41 percent.
Since that poll was released, three others have shown a much smaller gap. A CNN-Gallup Poll on Minnesota released Monday shows the race as a tie here, while a Minnesota Public Radio-Pioneer Press poll produced by the Mason Dixon research firm shows Bush ahead by two percentage points, 46 to 44.
The latest poll is that of Strategic Vision, a Republican-oriented national poll of likely voters that shows Kerry ahead in Minnesota by three percentage points, 48 to 45. Eibensteiner said Friday that the other polls "are one more piece of damning evidence showing that the Minnesota Poll is flawed and failing the voters of Minnesota."
Gyllenhaal said the variation in polls "suggests how much volatility there is in this campaign."
The controversy will be taken to the streets outside the Star Tribune's Minneapolis offices, according to a Web site called "Minnesota Democrats Exposed," which has announced a protest of the newspaper's polling methods. Republican officials alerted the newspaper to the planned demonstration by "concerned citizens" at noon Monday but said they are not involved in it.
Last week Gyllenhaal defended the poll's methodology, calling it "one of the most respected and accurate polls in the country for more than half a century." He branded the party's demand that the newspaper fire its longtime pollster, Rob Daves, a personal attack that was "shameful and misdirected."
Patricia Lopez