CAMPAIGN 2004 POLL AWARDS….So which poll gets bragging rights this year for calling the race most accurately? The final popular vote went to Bush 51%-48%, and the only poll that called it right on the money was….
Pew Research! Congratulations, guys!
According to the final numbers posted over at RCP, honorable mentions go to CBS, TIPP, and GW/Battleground, which all indicated a Bush victory of 2-4%. Not bad.
But who gets the goat award? Newsweek gets an honorable mention for predicting a Bush win by 6%, but that’s (barely) within the margin of error, so they get off easy. Marist predicted a Kerry win by 1%, which isn’t within the margin of error. But the grand prize goes to….
Fox News! They predicted Kerry would win by two points, 48%-46%, a stunning five percentage points off the actual result.
And Gallup? They got a lot grief during the election, and in the end they called it a tie, 49%-49%. That undecided formula they used didn’t work out so well.
