What makes Fox News's 'Trump impeachment' poll totally unreliable

We have been reminded that early polls cannot be trusted because their main purpose is to influence opinion, not reflect it. Closer to election the pollsters know their reputation depends on their accuracy. TD

Steve McCann  . . . "Polling in modern America has degenerated into a vehicle to create news and headlines and to shape public opinion on an issue or an individual.

"Over the past few days, the lead on every cable news channel and the headline in virtually all newspapers is Fox News claiming in its exclusive poll that 51% of Americans now favor impeachment and removal of President Trump.

"How did the Fox polling unit come up with this number?

"The Fox news polling companies interviewed 1,003 registered voters, ostensibly throughout the length and breadth of the United States.  Many polling companies use either all adult Americans (254 million) or registered voters (158 million in 2016) as their universe for polling.  Obviously, the greater the number of potential people to contact and question, the easier a poll is to complete and to skew a result.  In reality, what matters is who votes in an election.  In 2016, 86% (or 136.6 million) of registered voters cast a vote.  A poll of likely voters would inherently be more reliable but more difficult to achieve.  Currently, only Rasmussen among national polls uses exclusively likely voters and they are among the most reliable." . . .

. . . "The polling firms can manipulate the results by 1) using adults or registered voters, 2) skewing the universe of those polled, and 3) tinkering with the make-up of the questions asked.  As virtually all polling firms are in league with the Democrats and the media, any poll result splashed across the front page of a newspaper or as a major topic of conversation in the electronic media must be assumed to be biased and the end product of manipulation."

Trump Campaign Cites Democrats In Sample, Lack Of Independents To Blast ‘Garbage’ Fox News Poll About Impeachment  . . . “ '51 percent wants Trump impeached and removed from office, another 4 percent want him impeached but not removed, and 40 percent oppose impeachment altogether,” Fox News reported Wednesday, a result that signified a 9 percent jump from July, when the question was last posed." . . .

California, there it goes!

New poll: Three-quarters of California conservatives considering leaving state due to taxes, political culture  "Former California State Assemblyman Chuck DeVore reacted Thursday to a poll that showed half of California's registered voters - including 74 percent of conservatives - have considered leaving the state.
"Last week, the Institute of Governmental Studies at UC-Berkeley published a poll that found 71 percent of residents considered leaving California due to the cost of housing. The poll also found that 84 percent cited the "political culture" and 76 percent identified high taxes as the biggest reason.
"Republicans and conservatives were three times as likely to strongly consider leaving than Democrats and liberals, the study found." . . .

San Diego City College Lists ‘Make America Great Again’ on White Supremacy Pyramid  "San Diego City College held an event called “Confronting White Supremacy through the Arts,” which featured a white supremacy pyramid.

"Guess what was at the top? Make America Great Again! From College Reform:" . . .

'MAGA' Slogan Listed on California College's 'White Supremacy' Pyramid  "When everything becomes racist, or suggestive of white supremacy, they will have won." . . .

Stanford University Stripping Campus Buildings of Names With ‘Complex Legacies’  "Crimethink".  . . . "Stanford University has now officially wiped itself clean of any major references to California Mission system founder Father Junipero Serra, reasoning that the historic mission system “inflicted great harm and violence.”
Previously called “Serra Mall,” the university’s main street will now be called “Jane Stanford Way.” The “Serra Dormitory” will now be called the “Sally Ride House,” and a building previously dubbed the “Serra House” is now the “Carolyn Lewis Attneave House.' ” . . .

California's Government Loves Homelessness So Much They Passed a Rent Control Law   . . . "California's housing crisis is self-inflicted. It's not the result of rapacious businessmen gouging their tenants or evil landlords plotting to throw people out on the street for no reason. All the state has done with this new law is create another layer of red tape to discourage builders." . . .

PG&E Cut Power To Nearly 2 Million Californians To Prevent Wild Fires And People Are Upset  . . ."The utility is damned if they do and damned if they don’t. As much as I sympathize with people who suddenly find themselves living in the 19th century (and knowing I could be joining them if wind conditions in southern California worsen) it was less than a year ago that we learned things could be much, much worse if the power was left on in these conditions." . . .

Ignorance Is Not Bliss: Our Dumbing-Down in Time for AOC

By Ben Stein at American Spectator 

 I am often put in mind of something Mr. Nixon said to my father in 1973. “Something you have to remember, Herb,” said the president, “most members of the House aren’t fit to be dogcatchers.” The members may have detected some of this feeling in Mr. Nixon, which is perhaps why they were so ready to impeach him for doing basically nothing wrong 45 years ago.

"Meanwhile, while we are talking about leadership, let’s not forget AOC and her “Squad” and the “Green New Deal.” This is her plan to completely stop using fossil fuels and eating meat within the next 11 years. This, supposedly, is necessary to save the planet from destruction.
I don’t want to get too far into the weeds on this, but it’s the most idiotic plan in the history of modern civilization. It’s just mind-blowingly stupid. Yes, it’s a good idea to reduce the emission of greenhouse gases. I don’t think anyone doubts that. But to think a complete stop can be applied to fossil fuel usage is just an impossibility.
"The fact that anyone at all takes it seriously, that bystanders don’t start laughing and crying any time AOC or her posse appears in public is just a pitiful sign of how corroded and wrecked our educational system has become. Everything important runs primarily on oil and gas and nuclear. To think we can just wave a wand and change that in 11 is a cruel hoax. How could it have gained any currency at all?" . . .

. . . "AOC has basically presented a fantasy vision of the world to the American public. It’s just not grounded in reality. But a very large percentage of voters — 25 percent by some measurements — think this fantasy is real and that AOC could pull it off. This is sad and dangerous. I shudder when I think of how this stunning ignorance would play out in a war or peace situation for this country." . . .

BREAKING: Whistleblower Worked With Joe Biden At The Obama White House

Matt Vespa

"House Democrats began their impeachment push formally based on some whistleblower report that alleged President Trump tried to shakedown Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky in July. Trump supposedly threatened to withhold military aid unless Zelensky opened a corruption probe against Hunter Biden, son of former Vice President Joe Biden. The whistleblower is reportedly a CIA agent, a registered Democrat, and worked with a 2020 Democratic candidate. There is also a third citation indicating political bias that was not revealed. That portion was redacted. But the report is second-hand sourced and riddled with errors because this person didn’t listen in on the call. The Trump White House also released the transcript, which totally debunked the quid pro quo aspect of this circus.

"The complaint wasn’t released to members of Congress prior to them announcing a formal impeachment inquiry. Yeah, no one read the complaint, so that’s all you need to know about Democratic intentions in this matter. This is an attempt to overturn the results of the 2016 election, using a biased intelligence operative who had worked with Joe Biden during the Obama presidency. Yeah, that was revealed today by The Washington Examiner: . . ."

Trump is Winning the Great Game of American Political Football

Conrad Black

Trump has gained full control of his party, has held at least 45 percent of the country solidly behind him, and is threatening to derail the liberal slide of post-Reagan America and to pulverize and convert or expel the “OBushinton” cadres of the political class.

 "It has been known from the morning after the last presidential election that Trump was planning an assault on the political conventional wisdom in policy matters. He and his followers—fully half the voters if the Libertarians and Conservatives are added to the Republican total, and the Greens to the Democrats—didn’t subscribe to the “OBushinton” consensus on the environment, tax levels, toleration of illegal immigration, trade policy, health care, education, nuclear non-proliferation and many other issues. They saw the 2016 election as an opportunity to attempt to use the presidency to effect radical change in all these areas.
"The political class—which with minor variations to the right under George W. Bush, and a somewhat deeper turn to the left under President Obama, had held all the territory between the 30-yard lines on the political playing field since the retirement of Ronald Reagan—locked arms to repel the intruder.
"The Democrats, both the Clintonians and the Obamans, who had composed their marginal differences opposite the Sanders charge from the left, prepared to obstruct and harass the incoming administration. The Republicans, both the Bush-Romney-McCain center and the Cruz right, sat on their hands in the Congress, with towering skepticism, and neither Speaker Paul Ryan nor Senate leader McConnell gave the new president any assistance at all." . . .

This is bunk, nonsense. Speaker Nancy Pelosi is afraid to have a real debate and call a vote, and there is no chance this klunker could lead to the conviction and removal of the president by two thirds of the Senate, even if Senators Mitt Romney (R.-Utah), Ben Sasse (R.-Neb.), and Lisa Murkowski (R.-Alaska), all burst out of the NeverTrump closet where they have been kicking and screaming for three years, (other than when Romney thought he was a candidate for secretary of state).

How We Pale to Previous Generations

Victor Davis Hanson

A distant generation created; we mostly delay, idle, and gripe.

. . . "Dark Age Greeks tried to make sense of the massive ruins of their forgotten forbearers’ monumental palaces that were still standing around. As illiterates, they were curious about occasional clay tablets they plowed up in their fields with incomprehensible ancient Linear B inscriptions.  
"We of the 21st century are beginning to look back at our own lost epic times and wonder about these now-nameless giants who left behind monuments that we cannot replicate, but instead merely use or even mock.
"Does anyone believe that contemporary Americans could build another transcontinental railroad in six years?
"Californians tried to build a high-speed rail line. But after more than a decade of government incompetence, lawsuits, cost overruns, and constant bureaucratic squabbling, they have all but given up. The result is a half-built overpass over the skyline of Fresno — and not yet a foot of track laid.
"Who were those giants of the 1960s responsible for building our interstate highway system?
"California’s roads now are mostly the same as we inherited them, although the state population has tripled. We have added little to our freeway network, either because we forgot how to build good roads or would prefer to spend the money on redistributive entitlements." . . .

Ukraine President Zelensky: ‘No Blackmail’ in Phone Conversation With Trump

Legal Insurrection

Maybe, just maybe, Zelensky is telling the truth? Stop dragging him down because you suffer from Trump Derangement Syndrome.

"The crux of the impeachment inquiry into President Donald Trump keeps falling apart.

Once again, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky stressed that Trump did not blackmail or threaten to withhold aid from Ukraine if he did not investigate former Vice President Joe Biden.

"From the Associated Press:

Zelenskiy is trying to save his reputation and distance himself from the U.S. political drama. In an all-day “media marathon” held in a food court, he played down suggestions that Trump pressured him to investigate Democratic rival Joe Biden in exchange for military aid to help Ukraine battle Russian-backed separatists.

Responding to questions from The Associated Press, Zelenskiy said he only learned after their July 25 phone call that the U.S. had blocked hundreds of millions of dollars in military aid to Ukraine.

“We didn’t speak about this” during the July call, Zelenskiy said.

“There was no blackmail.”

Trump asked Zelenskiy during the call to “look into” Biden and his son, according to a rough White House transcript. Congressional Democrats believe Trump was holding up the military aid to use as leverage to pressure Ukraine and advance his domestic political interests before next year’s U.S. presidential election.

. . . 

About that Fox News poll claiming 51% of voters want Trump out

Beware of polls this far from election day. Their purpose is not to reflect public opinion, but to influence it. Polls tend to be more accurate closer to election day, except perhaps for any CNN poll. TD

Tony Branco

Monica Showalter  "We all know there's such a thing as a push poll. We also know that a heckuva lot of pollsters get their results wrong.

"Nevertheless, here's an unwelcome Fox News poll result being reported as news and being flashed at least at first, in red letters at the center of the page on the Drudge Report:

Just over half of voters want President Trump impeached and removed from office, according to a Fox News Poll released Wednesday. . . .

 . . . "It's undoubtedly a lot of randomly selected registered voters, even if it's not 51%, and that's likely a reflection of the wall-to-wall negative media coverage President Trump has gotten over this impeachment whistleblower issue, which I've seen on television news broadcasts." . . .

. . . "All the same, what's Fox News's track record on polls? 

"Not good, actually. Here is their 2016 pre-election poll, which forecast Hillary Clinton soundly beating Donald Trump by four percentage points, which in electionworld, is a landslide:

"If you want to follow pollsters, the best one to follow is IBD/TIPP, which has a long record of calling election results right, even against the herd. They too are reporting troubles for Trump but not as strongly as this Fox poll.  There are others who swear by Rasmussen, so a look at what they've got is worth a click, too. 

"The bad thing with this is that it will embolden Democrats to keep pressing forward to remove President Trump from office, even on just obstruction grounds since they aren't doing any 'impeachment inquiry' honestly or fairly to all sides. They've gagged Republicans from asking questions and their refusal to hold a real impeachment inquiry is nothing more than a bid to keep subpoena powers from Republicans." . . .

THIS...is CNN!

CNN’s Analyst On Impeachment: ‘This Isn’t Benghazi…This is Serious’…  . . . "Here is a quick reminder of how CNN covered the attack and subsequent hearings at the time. In 2013, CNN’s legal analyst Jeffrey Toobin scoffed at Republicans seeking out more information, calling the terrorist attacks a “non-story” and non-”scandal” for the Obama administration.

"CNN’s David Gergen blamed Republicans for the media’s lack of interest in an investigation.

"In mid-2014 CNN President Jeff Zucker bragged the Benghazi hearings weren't worth Americans' or CNN's time: "We're not going to be shamed into it by others who have political beliefs that want to try to have temper tantrums to shame other news organizations into covering something."

"Two weeks ago, Avlon also attacked Republicans for their “situational ethics,” a problem cable news analysts seem to conveniently ignore when it comes to Democrats." . . .

Trump Shames NBA Coaches For ‘Pandering To China’

Daily Wire  "President Trump weighed in for the first time Wednesday on the ongoing NBA-China debacle by publicly shaming two high-profile coaches for “pandering to China.”
"Championship-winning coaches Steve Kerr and Gregg Popovich, said Trump, refuse to voice criticism of Communist China’s oppressive policies but seem to have no such hesitations about talking “very badly” about the U.S.
"The NBA’s China mess began when Houston Rockets general manager Daryl Morey tweeted in support of the pro-democracy demonstrations in Hong Kong against China’s attempts to erode the autonomy of the region and the civil rights of citizens. In response, the Chinese government and the Chinese Basketball Association denounced the GM and threatened to cut ties with the Rockets. The NBA quickly took steps to appease the communist regime, apologizing for having “deeply offended many of our friends and fans in China,” while Morey deleted the tweet and apologized for expressing solidarity with pro-democracy protesters." 
"Asked about the controversy on Monday, Golden State Warriors head coach Steve Kurr, who hasn’t been shy in the past about expressing his political views, refused to offer an opinion, drawing widespread criticism."

Clay Travis

‏

Verified account 

@ClayTravis

Steve Kerr has no comment on NBA’s China issues. He comments on every Trump tweet and can’t support democracy in China? What a complete and total coward.

 Logan Murdock

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2:50 AM - 8 Oct 2019

. . . “ 'He didn’t know how to answer the question, and yet he’ll talk about the United States very badly,” Trump added. As for Popovich, Trump said, “sort of the same thing, but he didn’t look quite as scared actually.”

"Overall, he said, “they talk badly about the United States, but when [they talk] about China, they don’t want to say anything bad.' ” . . .

America's grifters should shame us all.

Timothy Bishop

Burisma paid Joe Biden $900,000 for lobbying – Ukrainian MP  "Former U.S. Vice President Joe Biden received $900,000 for lobbying activities from Burisma Group, Ukraine's Verkhovna Rada member Andriy Derkach said citing investigation materials.
"Derkach publicized documents which, as he said, "describe the mechanism of getting money by Biden Sr." at a press conference at Interfax-Ukraine's press center in Kyiv on Wednesday.
"This was the transfer of Burisma Group's funds for lobbying activities, as investigators believe, personally to Joe Biden through a lobbying company. Funds in the amount of $900,000 were transferred to the U.S.-based company Rosemont Seneca Partners, which according to open sources, in particular, the New York Times, is affiliated with Biden. The payment reference was payment for consultative services," Derkach said.
"He also publicized sums that were transferred to Burisma Group representatives, in particular Hunter Biden, a son of the former U.S. vice president." . . .
MP Derkach unveils facts of pressure of U.S. Embassy on Ukraine's law enforcement bodies, possible corrupt actions of the Bidens  Source: Interfax-Ukraine.

Biden Campaign Says Joe Will Not Answer Questions About Hunter’s Business Dealings…   "The media would cry bloody murder if Trump did this.""

Imagining Chelsea Clinton’s America  . . . "Along with the White House, if we’re to remain true to Chelsea’s fantasy, control of the Senate would pass to the Democrats, who would also extend their majority in the House of Representatives. With power to match their vigor, the Warren Administration would get to work. In every area, transformative legislation would pour out of Washington. A few highlights:" . . .

Company Co-Founded By Nancy Pelosi’s Son Charged With Fraud  . . . "Remember Solyndra? That one wasn’t a small hit to the U.S Treasury. From The Washington Times:  

The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) charged a company cofounded by Paul Pelosi Jr. with fraud on Wednesday after learning that two convicted criminals were running the business.Paul Pelosi Jr., the son of House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D., Calif.), was the president and chief operating officer of Natural Blue Resources Inc., an investment company he cofounded that focuses on “environmentally-friendly” ventures.  . . .

 The New Mexico Office of the Secretary of State Business Service Division currently lists Natural Blue as a company "not in good standing," with Pelosi listed as its president.

There is No Middle Ground with Today’s Democrats or the Deep State

American Greatness  "Lose an election you thought you’d win? Well Democrats’ have a solution for that: “We shall impeach all da things!!” Don’t like a Supreme Court justice? Impeach him! Don’t like the president? Impeach away. And if you’re Congressman “President” Swalwell, I assume you nuke whatever is left.
"Of course there are no real grounds for impeachment—just failed lies and hoaxes. But who cares? Clearly the Christine Blasey Ford and Russian collusion hit jobs failed miserably, but damn the torpedoes, full speed ahead!
"Like a child with a box of matches, deranged Democrats seem to think they have their hands on a good idea. Their thinking goes something like this: “If we can’t be in control, let’s burn it all down, destroy norms, throw an epic political tantrum, hold the American people hostage! That’ll show the irredeemable deplorables to question their betters!”
"The Democrats’ sycophant propagandists in the corporate leftist media are barking and clapping away like circus seals, cheering them on. Both sets of deranged people appear perplexed, however, that outside of their bubble within the Acela corridor people in real America, as Politico chronicled, think the idea of impeachment is absurd. The corporate leftist media’s reaction, from Chuck Todd’s meltdown over the weekend to the Politico piece, is one of shock and disgust that people are not listening to their enlightened masters on this matter." . . .