Shamed Democrat Pollster Quits Profession After Failing To Rig The Presidential Election

Posted • November 17, 2024: The liberal media swears they’re unbiased. According to them, it’s just a weird, inexplicable quirk of fate when conservatives perpetually get the dagger and liberals are always pampered, propped up, and protected. Still, they’re adamant: “There is no media bias!”

Major colleges agree:

• University of Virginia: Not fake news: Major study finds no “liberal bias” in media…
https://batten.virginia.edu/about/news/not-fake-news-major-study-finds-no-liberal-bias-media-there-are-other-problems
• Florida State: FSU study finds no media bias when it comes to story selection
https://news.fsu.edu/news/education-society/2020/04/01/fsu-study-finds-no-media-bias-when-it-comes-to-story-selection/
• New York University: False Accusation: The Unfounded Claim that Social Media Companies Censor Conservatives
https://static1.squarespace.com/static/5b6df958f8370af3217d4178/t/60187b5f45762e708708c8e9/1612217185240/NYU+False+Accusation_2.pdf
• George Mason University: Study: Media Fact-Checker Says Republicans Lie More
https://cmpa.gmu.edu/study-media-fact-checker-says-republicans-lie-more/
• Columbia University: How did Republicans learn to hate the news media?
https://www.cjr.org/first_person/republicans-media.php

And so does the mainstream media — which does acknowledge some bias (usually in the form of corporate power, institutional racism, or various conspiracies about the Patriarchy enslaving women and minorities), but scoffs at the idea that there’s any sort of political bias:

• The New Yorker: How Biased Is the Media, Really?
https://www.newyorker.com/news/fault-lines/how-biased-is-the-media-really
• Poynter: No, Fox News and MSNBC are not the same thing (Spoiler: Fox News is far worse; words like “lie,” “dangerous,” “irresponsible,” and “misleading” are used.)
https://www.poynter.org/newsletters/2021/no-fox-news-and-msnbc-are-not-the-same-thing/
• L.A. Times: It isn’t ‘biased’ to report that right-wing lies are false
https://www.latimes.com/opinion/letters-to-the-editor/story/2022-03-25/no-biased-for-the-media-to-report-right-wing-lies
• Mashable: Once again, there is no ‘anti-conservative’ bias on social media
https://mashable.com/article/anti-conservative-bias-facebook

But bravo to New York Magazine for taking the brave, sophisticated stance that, okay, media bias might exist… but it’s too pro-Republican: The Media’s Double Standard Favors Trump, Not Harris. https://nymag.com/intelligencer/article/medias-bias-kamala-harris-donald-trump-double-standard.html -- Clearly, then, the only viable solution is for the media to be even MORE anti-Trump! Still, the 2024 leader for leftwing bias and partisan reporting was pollster Ann Selzer, the head of Selzer & Co. of West Des Moines. In the final days of the presidential election, Selzer released a blockbuster Iowa poll that showed Donald Trump losing the ruby-red state he had previously won in 2016 and 2020! According to Selzer, Harris was now beating Trump 47% to 44%. It was a bombshell report. And the media couldn’t get enough:

Politico, Axios, Fox, Roll Call, and more all called Selzer’s Iowa poll the “gold standard” in polling. But I guess gold isn’t as valuable as it once was, because on Election Day, Kamala Harris only received 42.5% of the Iowa vote. Ann Selzer’s “gold standard” Iowa poll was off by a whopping 16 points! In the polling profession, there’s just no excuse for blowing a poll by 16 points — especially in a state where you’ve been a pollster since 1997. That’s nearly 30 years of experience in a small, mostly homogeneous state. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iowa#Demographics -- Today, Ann Selzer announced her retirement from election polling.

“Would I have liked to make this announcement after a final poll aligned with Election Day results? Of course. It’s ironic that it’s just the opposite. I am proud of the work I’ve done for the Register, for the Detroit Free Press, for the Indianapolis Star, for Bloomberg News and for other public and private organizations interested in elections. They were great clients and happy with my work.” -- Three quick hits: One, her final poll wasn’t “ironic” at all. There’s no irony in blowing a predictive poll by 16 points. Selzer is in the prediction business, and she screwed up the prediction. That’s on you, not the mysterious forces of irony. Two, I’m VERY sure those media outlets were all “great clients” and happy with her work. After all, she gave them exactly what they wanted to hear. Three, here are the two most likely reasons why an experienced “gold standard” pollster would miss an election — in her own hometown! — by 16 points: Accidental incompetence, or deliberate corruption.

Accidental incompetence is certainly a possibility. Hey, everyone makes mistakes. Obviously, if you’re consistently botching polls by 16 points, you’re probably not a very good pollster, but as a one-off, anyone could have a bad day. Maybe that’s all that happened. But after choking on the thick cloud of leftwing lies and media bias, I’d be dishonest if I didn’t acknowledge the possibility of deliberate, intentional corruption. For eight long years, the liberal political-media cabal has been calling Trump a Nazi. They labeled him a danger to democracy and a wannabe fascist. And then, in the closing days of a tightly contested presidential race, Iowa’s “gold standard” pollster releases a poll that was wholly disconnected from reality?! Sorry, but that sounds like the kind of thing that was designed to depress Republican turnout — and instill last-minute excitement amongst liberal voters.

In her resignation column, Selzer claimed she told the Des Moines Register that she wouldn’t be renewing her 2024 contract before her last poll was even released. I suppose she included this information so nobody would think she was fired, but it also builds a circumstantial case of culpability: If Selzer knew she was quitting from election polls, what did she have to lose by putting her fingers on the scale and trying to manipulate the outcome? It’s worth noting that Selzer’s last eight Iowa polls ALL exaggerated the Democrat’s strength and downplayed the Republican’s. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ann_Selzer#Final_pre-election_Selzer_&_Company_polls -- Either way, Ann Selzer has left the building. It’s unusual to screw up so badly; you have to leave your profession in the rearview mirror. Hopefully, the next pollster will be more accurate (and/or honest).

PJ Media: Shamed Democrat Pollster Quits Profession after Failing to Rig the Presidential Election
https://pjmedia.com/scott-pinsker/2024/11/17/shamed-democratic-pollster-quits-profession-after-failing-to-rig-the-presidential-election-n4934375
Twitchy: Skews the Polls and BAILS? Ann Selzer Retires, Claims Kamala IA Poll Is NOT the Reason Why BUT X Calls BS
https://twitchy.com/samj/2024/11/17/ann-selzer-retires-n2403894
Des Moines Register: Pollster Ann Selzer ending election polling, moving 'to other ventures and opportunities'
https://www.desmoinesregister.com/story/opinion/columnists/2024/11/17/ann-selzer-conducts-iowa-poll-ending-election-polling-moving-to-other-opportunities/76334909007/
Des Moines Register: Iowa Poll: Kamala Harris leapfrogs Donald Trump to take lead near Election Day. Here's how
https://www.desmoinesregister.com/story/news/politics/iowa-poll/2024/11/02/iowa-poll-kamala-harris-leads-donald-trump-2024-presidential-race/75354033007/
Politico: Shock: Gold-standard poll gives Harris slim lead over Trump — in Iowa
https://www.politico.com/live-updates/2024/11/02/2024-elections-live-coverage-updates-analysis/shock-iowa-poll-00186935
Axios: Shock poll: Harris grabs last-minute Iowa lead over Trump
https://www.axios.com/2024/11/03/harris-iowa-poll-trump-women
Fox 5 New York: New poll shows Kamala Harris ahead by 3 points in Iowa
https://www.fox5ny.com/news/iowa-poll-ann-selzer-harris-2024-presidential-election
Roll Call: Outlier or early warning? Late Iowa Poll confounds
https://rollcall.com/2024/11/04/outlier-or-early-warning-late-iowa-poll-confounds/
CNN: Top pollster Ann Selzer to retire after bombshell Iowa poll ended in huge miss
https://www.cnn.com/2024/11/17/media/iowa-pollster-ann-selzer-retire-trump-harris/index.html