John Zogby: My Real Agenda

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I usually post commentary that is based on political or societal polling that I have conducted on this subject or that, and it has been a rewarding experience. Today I am again writing about our political polling at Zogby International, but more to clear up misconceptions than to tout new results.

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It doesn't happen often, but once in a while someone misses the point of our work at Zogby. Usually a partisan is complaining that a particular question in a particular poll is slanted, which is then touted as proof that we have some hidden agenda to skew poll results, and therefore the field of play, against that particular partisan's view. We get such complaints nearly every day - from both sides of political spectrum.

And both sides are wrong.

One of the things that I pride myself with most when I look back at my 25 years of polling at Zogby International is that I have had the privilege of working with a wide variety of clients from every conceivable point on the political spectrum. I have been branded a right-winger and a left-winger. I let such charges roll off my back because my personal political views have nothing to do with my polling, and they never will.

But what I am most known for is my proven record of accuracy year in and year out. Have we blown a race here and there? Sure. Everyone does. It is the nature of the beast. It is said that public opinion research is part science and part art, and sometimes the artistry is less than a masterpiece. Further, in our field, the game is changing month by month as technology changes and people change the way they communicate with each other. We continue to make adjustments in our polling methodologies as well to produce the accurate and trustworthy results upon which our clients and the public have come to rely.

But the bottom line is this - Zogby polling performed extraordinarily well in the 2004 presidential race (Zogby International Zogby International). Even though I made a prediction, which I shouldn't do(Zogby International), my prediction was wrong but my polls were right(RealClear Politics - Polls). In fact, both our telephone and interactive polls were almost perfect, which is why both the Boston Globe and the New York Post proclaimed us the "Big Winner" of 2004. In 2008 the Zogby telephone polling(RealClearPolitics - Election 2008 - General Election: McCain vs. Obama) was well within the margin of error, and the interactive polling was within a couple of points of all the major telephone polls when we ended it in early October to take care of other client business. (Zogby International Zogby International)

In fact, in the aggregate including presidential polling in 1996, 2000, 2004, and 2008, Zogby is far and away the most accurate pollster.

It is this solid performance at Zogby, day in and day out, that has caused our survey research to rise to the top tier of the industry. Leaders in business, politics, academic and non-profit fields have come time and again to Zogby, year after year, for top quality research, and we remain proud of our client base and work hard to provide them the most accurate product possible.

We live in a world where anyone with a computer, an Internet connection, and an axe to grind can leap out onto the world stage and make sparks fly. I am all for free speech, but informed speech is much more effective. So many critics of the polling industry, and of our specific processes and methodologies here at Zogby International, lack a comprehensive understanding of just how we do our work and the nature of political polling generally. So, in the absence of information, they assign conspiratorial political agendas to fill in the blanks and paint a picture that is badly distorted. It is sad, but it is the state of the American political landscape today.

We understand that and press on, speaking up from time to time to correct the record, whether or not these parties want to accept the facts that we lay on the table - a very important one of which is simply that at Zogby there are no conspiratorial political agendas hidden deep inside our work.

At Zogby International, our real agenda is top quality survey research. That means our main effort is to get at the truth regardless of who agrees with that truth.

This, I know, is a flaming lie and Zogby's tongue should turn black and rot out of his face for trying to peddle such blatant bull####.

I have taken many many Zogby polls, and they are almost always slanted left. They lump illegal immigrants in with legal ones, so there is no real answer that reflects your opinion - you either want ALL immigrants out of this country, or you want NO immgrants out of this country. And that is just one example; I have posted numerous Zogby poll questions on here that have the same push.

Maybe Zogby is so in the bag that he doesn't even realize it, but anyone with even a smidgen of reading comprehension can see his bias.