{"id":214162,"date":"2016-08-08T17:10:22","date_gmt":"2016-08-08T21:10:22","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/172.24.32.11\/daily\/2016\/08\/08\/what_to_think_about_the_polls\/"},"modified":"2016-08-08T17:10:22","modified_gmt":"2016-08-08T21:10:22","slug":"what_to_think_about_the_polls","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rushlimbaugh.com\/daily\/2016\/08\/08\/what_to_think_about_the_polls\/","title":{"rendered":"What to Think About the Polls"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><a href=\"http:\/\/live-rush-limbaugh.pantheonsite.io\/videos\/37\/72602\" target=\"_blank\"><img class=\"alignright\" src=\"\/wp-content\/uploads\/listentoit.jpg\" alt=\"Listen to it Button\"><\/a> <\/p>\n<section xmlns:image=\"http:\/\/ez.no\/namespaces\/ezpublish3\/image\/\" xmlns:xhtml=\"http:\/\/ez.no\/namespaces\/ezpublish3\/xhtml\/\" xmlns:custom=\"http:\/\/ez.no\/namespaces\/ezpublish3\/custom\/\">\n<p>RUSH: Let me grab Teddy here in San Antonio.&nbsp; Teddy, you have a question about polling, it says here.&nbsp; What is it?<\/p>\n<p>CALLER:&nbsp; Yes, sir.&nbsp; Thank you very much for taking my call.<\/p>\n<p>RUSH:&nbsp; Yes, sir.<\/p>\n<p>CALLER:&nbsp; Young Millennial conservative dittos.&nbsp; I guess my question, I\u2019ve been listening a long time and your attitude towards polls that have been this far out, at least as I understand it, have always been meant to shape public opinion and, as we get closer to the elections, they start to more accurately reflect so that they can maintain their credibility.&nbsp; But now it seems like you\u2019re saying that we just need to accept these and we can\u2019t ignore \u2019em.&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><img id=\"eZObject_125981\" class=\"img_middle\" align=\"middle\" src=\"\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/08\/RealvilleSign.jpg\"\/><line xmlns:tmp=\"http:\/\/ez.no\/namespaces\/ezpublish3\/temporary\/\">And I just have a hard time accepting or not ignoring polls from ABC and from NBC that are all, you know, they\u2019re all kind of conspicuously saying eight, nine, 10 points right now.&nbsp; And, you know, polling science to me is about as reliable as climate science, so it\u2019s a little strange for me that they\u2019re all kind of in unison right now.&nbsp; And I just wanted to know, I mean, I thought your old philosophy was very true and very accurate, and so now it\u2019s kind of confusing for me that you\u2019re putting so much weight in these polls that are so far out.<\/line><\/p>\n<p>RUSH:&nbsp; I don\u2019t mean to be conveying that.&nbsp; I\u2019m not.&nbsp; You have articulated my philosophy and my belief on polls perfectly.&nbsp; I think polls right now are being used to shape public opinion.&nbsp; Maybe I\u2019m not making myself clear.&nbsp; Let me follow this all, \u2019cause everything you say here is right.&nbsp; The polling that\u2019s being done right now inarguably is done, as Mr. Rutenberg has practically indicated, journalism has been thrown out the window officially now.&nbsp; We know journalism\u2019s been out the window for decades.&nbsp; But he\u2019s admitting it\u2019s officially out the window now.&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>So they gotta do everything they can to take Trump out.&nbsp; Polling is one of the weapons that they\u2019ve got, and I have no doubt that the polls are being used today to create public opinion to depress Trump support, to dispirit Trump support, and to energize Hillary Clinton support.&nbsp; And, you\u2019re right, as we get nearer the election, you can bank on the results being more accurate, because, at the end of the day these polling units are only as credible as their accuracy.&nbsp; As you get nearer the election, the polling units will more accurately reflect what they find, because when the election\u2019s all over, they all want to be able to say they pegged it, they got it right.&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>Now, what I\u2019m leaving out of this in my little timeline, for example, that you heard me do in the previous hour, is that in the case of Romney, I didn\u2019t believe the polls ever.&nbsp; And I turned out to be really wrong.&nbsp; I kept maintaining in September and October when they had Obama up six and in some polls they had Obama up eight, I said, &#8220;Folks, that just can\u2019t be.&#8221;&nbsp; What I was doing was factoring in midterm turnout, 2010 midterms, where we skunked them.&nbsp; But in the case of the Romney campaign, I was using 2010 and that turnout.&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><img id=\"eZObject_125987\" class=\"img_middle\" align=\"middle\" src=\"\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/08\/ROmneyElectionMap.jpg\"\/><line xmlns:tmp=\"http:\/\/ez.no\/namespaces\/ezpublish3\/temporary\/\">And I was saying they\u2019re forgetting that, nobody\u2019s talking about that turnout.&nbsp; They\u2019re comparing the 2012 polling data to the 2008 turnout data.&nbsp; And it was because presidential election turnout is much different, much higher, particularly among minorities, than it is during midterm elections such as in 2010.&nbsp; And I was thinking, the mistake I made was I saw the enthusiasm in the 2010 midterm turnout, and it was huge, folks.&nbsp;<\/line><\/p>\n<p>This is the real frustrating things here as a side issue.&nbsp; You know, we all sit here thinking the Republican Party is blowing it left and right, but the fact of the matter is they won two huge midterm landslides, significant victories.&nbsp; The Democrat Party, from the federal level all the way down to local, lost almost a thousand seats in those two elections, House of Representatives, Senate, state legislatures, governorships, mayors. I mean, all of this, the Democrats just got shellacked.&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>I figured that was Tea Party in 2010.&nbsp; And I figured that that turnout was just gonna go nuts in 2012, I thought it would say energized, I thought it would show up again, because it was anti-Obama, it was anti-Obamacare, and here the guy is, and then the polling continued to show Romney down by six.&nbsp; I said, they\u2019re missing the 2010 turnout.&nbsp; Well, it turned out the polling was dead on right and I was wrong.&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>And I was telling everybody in 2012 not to believe the polls, because I didn\u2019t.&nbsp; I thought they were jigged.&nbsp; I thought they were jigged up, rigged up, whatever, and they weren\u2019t.&nbsp; They just didn\u2019t care about the 2010 turnout.&nbsp; It wasn\u2019t a factor to them, the polling units.&nbsp; They only compare presidential years to presidential years.&nbsp; And so they were assuming a much different turnout for the presidential race in 2012.&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>So extrapolating that to this year.&nbsp; We have 2014, a year and a half ago, coming up on two years ago, and it was another blowout.&nbsp; It was another Republican blowout in the midterms.&nbsp; Well, 2012, too, with down ballot races.&nbsp; We\u2019re winning everything.&nbsp; Here\u2019s the problem, as everybody well knows.&nbsp; The Republican Party image is not that of a winner.&nbsp; The Republican Party image is what?&nbsp; Do nothing.&nbsp; Despite all those wins, the Republican Party image is compromise, cross the aisle, work with Obama, show we can govern, show we can make Washington work.&nbsp; So even those two massive midterm landslide election victories, which were the result of Republicans running for election on a conservative agenda, when they got there, they didn\u2019t implement that agenda, they chucked it.&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><img id=\"eZObject_125988\" class=\"img_middle\" align=\"middle\" src=\"\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/08\/TrumpPanic-B.jpg\"\/><line xmlns:tmp=\"http:\/\/ez.no\/namespaces\/ezpublish3\/temporary\/\">And so the image of the Republican Party nationally is one of compromise, no fight-back, appeasement, fear, whatever, but it was winning out the wazoo.&nbsp; It just wasn\u2019t winning presidential races, which was even more frustrating.&nbsp; So moving that forward to the polling discussion now, we have every poll out there with &#8212; well, there\u2019s two exceptions.&nbsp; But every poll with two exceptions has Hillary up either eight or 15.&nbsp;<\/line><\/p>\n<p>There\u2019s a Reuters\/Ipsos poll that came out I think Saturday or Sunday that\u2019s got Hillary up only three, margin of error.&nbsp; But then another poll has since been released since that Reuters\/Ipsos poll that everybody\u2019s using to cancel it out that\u2019s got Hillary back up to eight, 10, whatever it is.&nbsp; And then there is a new poll, a USC poll that the Los Angeles Times is publishing that had Trump up seven the entire week of the Democrat convention.&nbsp; And after the convention, Hillary got a bump, and she\u2019s up one point in that poll.&nbsp; That\u2019s a poll of 3,000 respondents, and 400 of them don\u2019t change, or 500, four to five hundred.&nbsp; Same people; the others change and they rotate out.&nbsp; It\u2019s a daily poll.&nbsp; They release the results at midnight every night, Eastern time.&nbsp; And that shows this race much, much closer.&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>All I\u2019m telling you is the pattern is starting to begin here, Teddy.&nbsp; The pattern is that Republicans, conservatives, Trump supporters are now starting to say the polls are not catching it, there\u2019s so much going on out there that\u2019s not being shown up.&nbsp; The polls are wrong, they\u2019re not there, there\u2019s all kinds of action for Trump that they\u2019re not catching.&nbsp; And I\u2019m just saying, we\u2019ve heard this before.&nbsp; I\u2019m just talking about the pattern.&nbsp; The pattern repeats, and people think that there\u2019s all kinds of support for our candidate that somehow is not being found and not being tabulated.&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>But then, when you get down to it, when presidential race shows up in each of the last two &#8212; well, in 2008 I don\u2019t think it was close, up until the financial crisis was announced.&nbsp; You know, McCain was ahead of Obama \u2019til that happened. But in 2012, there were a lot of people that thought Romney was gonna win this and win it handily.&nbsp; And the polls didn\u2019t say that.&nbsp; And the polls ended up being right.&nbsp; Some of them got it.&nbsp; Some of them got it wrong.&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>But, no, no, you\u2019re not wrong about anything.&nbsp; I\u2019m talking about the pattern that happens.&nbsp; I just find it &#8212; what am I really trying to say here?&nbsp; It\u2019s too cliched to say I find it interesting, because it obviously is.&nbsp; It just seems that every presidential election year repeats itself.&nbsp; The polls come out, and it shows our guy losing handily, either by five, it\u2019s outside the margin of error, five, seven, 10, in this case, 15, and then the pattern is that our side always claims anecdotal evidence to show the polls are wrong.&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>In the case of Romney, we were looking at the crowds that showed up in the last week for his rallies, and they were over the top.&nbsp; They rivaled Trump rallies.&nbsp; They rivaled Trump crowds in terms of size.&nbsp; It didn\u2019t matter.&nbsp; The rallies had nothing in common with the polling data.&nbsp; The pattern is repeating here with Trump.&nbsp; Not only is crowd size and crowd energy being cited, and it\u2019s being compared to the lack of energy and lack of size of Hillary\u2019s crowds, there\u2019s a new metric that\u2019s now been introduced, and that\u2019s social media.&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>I received this analysis in the email today.&nbsp; Some people have gone out there and tabulated how much social media, and they\u2019ve tabulated by who has followers and likes and who does the most tweeting and Facebook posting and all that, and this analysis shows that Trump is just clocking her, three to one social media presence.&nbsp; Three to one social media positives, that Trump owns social media.&nbsp; And they\u2019re saying, &#8220;The polling data is not catching that. The polling data is not showing that.&#8221;&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><a target=\"_blank\" href=\"http:\/\/live-rush-limbaugh.pantheonsite.io\/daily\/2016\/08\/05\/examining_the_trump_effect\"><img id=\"eZObject_125982\" class=\"img_middle\" align=\"middle\" src=\"\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/08\/The-Trump-Effect.jpg\"\/><\/a>I guess what I\u2019m saying is it\u2019s a risk here to just throw the polls out and say they don\u2019t matter, because you end up creating a false reality for yourself that isn\u2019t true.&nbsp; The polls are now obviously being used to drum up support for Hillary and venom for Trump.&nbsp; Hillary\u2019s not doing anything to create this support for her.&nbsp; Hillary\u2019s not doing anything.&nbsp; She\u2019s not energized anybody.&nbsp; Hillary\u2019s not exciting anybody.&nbsp; In fact, I got even more people here in the audio sound bite roster agreeing with me that the reason she\u2019s going up in the polls is that she doesn\u2019t say anything.&nbsp; The quieter she is, the more invisible she is, the greater her numbers are.&nbsp; And it\u2019s true.&nbsp; The more she shows up and the more she speaks, the more downward her polling data goes.&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>Look, wouldn\u2019t it be better if the polls right now showed Trump ahead, like they did all during the primaries?&nbsp; You didn\u2019t doubt those polls, did you?&nbsp; How many Cruz people were out there saying, &#8220;It\u2019s just not true. There\u2019s a lot of Cruz people that won\u2019t say so, a lot of Cruz people won\u2019t admit it, but Trump, those polls are not right.&#8221;&nbsp; I\u2019m just a big believer in accepting reality and dealing with it.&nbsp; And the reality that we are facing right now, as has been admitted to today in the New York Times, is the media is all-in, not so much for Hillary Clinton, but to destroy Donald Trump.&nbsp; And they\u2019re not gonna let up on this.&nbsp; So I appreciate the call, Teddy.&nbsp; I appreciate the opportunity to explain.&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>I\u2019ve gotta take a brief tout.&nbsp; I got some audio sound bites to back this up, to illustrate what I\u2019m talking about, and a couple of polls here to also illustrate people saying how there\u2019s all kinds of support for Trump that\u2019s not being found.&nbsp; And we even have, I\u2019m gonna replay for you Robert Costa, Washington Post, last week, talking about this very same thing.&nbsp;&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>BREAK TRANSCRIPT<\/p>\n<p>RUSH:&nbsp; Not believing the Romney polls might have been when my accuracy went down, in fact.&nbsp; It could have been that.&nbsp; But, I tell you what: Gallup has gotten out of the business.&nbsp; Gallup does not do presidential rolls anymore because they just couldn\u2019t get it right, and they don\u2019t want to be dramatically wrong.&nbsp; So let\u2019s go to the audio sound bites, because Kellyanne Conway &#8212; a noted pollster with a great, great reputation. She\u2019s been out there a long time.&nbsp; She\u2019s now working for Trump.&nbsp; And she said on NBC, the Sunday version of the Today Show, that there\u2019s a big hidden Trump vote out there that nobody\u2019s finding.&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>Willie Geist asked her the question: How concerned are you guys in the Trump campaign about these numbers?&nbsp; &#8216;Cause they look pretty bad for your guy.<\/p>\n<p><img id=\"eZObject_125983\" class=\"img_right\" align=\"right\" src=\"\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/08\/Kellyanne.jpg\"\/><line xmlns:tmp=\"http:\/\/ez.no\/namespaces\/ezpublish3\/temporary\/\">CONWAY:&nbsp; The Reuters poll &#8212; which is an online poll &#8212; where Hillary is down three points to Donald Trump nationally.&nbsp; And I think the important point to note there is when you have online polls as opposed to telephone polls, Mr. Trump tends to do better.&nbsp; And that\u2019s because the online polls approximate the ballot box where you\u2019re issuing your vote privately.&nbsp; We think there is a big hidden Trump vote in this country.<\/line><\/p>\n<p>RUSH:&nbsp; There you have it.&nbsp; This is how this works.&nbsp; I hope she\u2019s right; don\u2019t misunderstand me.&nbsp; But I just remember during the primaries when Trump was leading with these astronomical numbers, the Jeb people weren\u2019t out saying, &#8220;Those numbers aren\u2019t right! Our guy\u2019s got a whole bunch of hidden support out there.&#8221; The Cruz people weren\u2019t saying that. Everybody believed the numbers when Trump was ahead, because you could see it and Trump owned everything, right? I made sense he was pick up by 10 points.&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>Okay, well, now Trump\u2019s not ahead. He\u2019s down by three, down by five, down by 10. &#8220;Can\u2019t be! Gotta be hidden.&#8221; So here comes the Trump campaign, &#8220;There\u2019s a big Trump vote in this country that\u2019s not being found.&#8221;&nbsp; I\u2019m just saying, it fits the pattern.&nbsp; This is what we always do.&nbsp; It may be right in this case.&nbsp; Listen to Robert Costa of the Washington Post on Charlie Rose last week.&nbsp; He is not part of the media contingent that thinks Hillary is going to win in a landslide.&nbsp; Charlie Rose said to him, &#8220;How deep and how wide is this movement that Trump has, in a sense, accepted as his reason for being?&#8221;<\/p>\n<p><img id=\"eZObject_125984\" class=\"img_right\" align=\"right\" src=\"\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/08\/Costa_large.jpg\"\/><line xmlns:tmp=\"http:\/\/ez.no\/namespaces\/ezpublish3\/temporary\/\">COSTA: It\u2019s wider than any party.&nbsp; I mean, it includes some Bernie Sanders supporters. It includes some libertarians.&nbsp; The most important voter in this movement, uh, when I travel around the country, is the previously disengaged voter.&nbsp; They\u2019re almost a nonpartisan voter, but they\u2019ve given up not just on the political process, but they\u2019ve disengaged from civic society. They don\u2019t really follow politics. If that\u2019s a real coherent voting block, then Trump &#8212; regardless of the polls &#8212; will have a shot in November &#8212; and regardless of all the mistakes &#8212; because that\u2019s a huge block.&nbsp; There\u2019s so much of this country that rarely, if ever, votes, and if &#8212; for some reason &#8212; they come to the polls in droves, that changes everything.<\/line><\/p>\n<p>RUSH:&nbsp; Well, that could be the big hidden Trump vote that Kellyanne Conway\u2019s talking about &#8212; people that never vote and are so fed up, ticked off, and think they\u2019ve got a guy now: Trump.&nbsp; Obviously polling data is not gonna catch \u2019em.&nbsp; Polling data is of likely voters.&nbsp; Well, that group is never gonna be called.&nbsp; That group\u2019s never gonna be asked.&nbsp; And Robert Costa at the Washington Post is warning his media buddies (summarized), &#8220;You know, this is unlike anything we\u2019ve seen before.&nbsp; You can\u2019t plug this into your usual playbook or formula,&#8221; and it\u2019s a good reservation to have. &nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>BREAK TRANSCRIPT<\/p>\n<p>RUSH:&nbsp; This is three-days old.&nbsp; It\u2019s a Rasmussen Reports survey: &#8220;Sixty-two percent of likely voters think that Hillary Clinton and her staff deleted an estimated 30,000 emails from her server to hide something incriminating from the FBI.&nbsp; Forty-five percent say it\u2019s very likely.&#8221;&nbsp; I mean, that\u2019s&#8230; Most people, in the Rasmussen survey, think Hillary\u2019s hiding something.&nbsp; Okay.&nbsp; So, you\u2019re saying, &#8220;So what?&#8221;&nbsp; Well, I need to know how something goes together.&nbsp; How can most people believe Hillary is hiding something incriminating from the FBI, and she be leading 10 to 15 points in a poll?&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>In fact, how does it happen that Trump leads by seven, by six and then the Democrat convention comes, and the lead goes from Trump up six to Hillary up by 10, 15?&nbsp; How does that happen?&nbsp; Now, I can understand, to an extent, some people getting upset over the situation with Mr. and Mrs. Khan at the Democrat convention. But not that big a swing.&nbsp; I mean, these are people who follow politics.&nbsp; These are people, by now, who know who Trump is and know who Hillary is.&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>We\u2019re not gonna pick up the people that aren\u2019t paying attention until September, after Labor Day.&nbsp; That\u2019s the general rule of thumb is that these campaigns all really begin after Labor Day, anyway, because that\u2019s when the low-information crowd starts tuning in.&nbsp; And I understand the media\u2019s ability to sway public opinion.&nbsp; That\u2019s what we\u2019ve been talking about. It\u2019s the importance of the New York Times story that I read in the opening hour here, but that big?&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>You\u2019re telling me that Donald Trump\u2019s up eight points and then the Khan situation happens, and a bunch of ardent Trump supporters get so mad they say, &#8220;Hell, no; I\u2019m voting for Hillary&#8221;?&nbsp; I just don\u2019t think people think that way.&nbsp; I just don\u2019t believe it goes that way.&nbsp; Too many of these polls are just happen to be reflecting exactly what the media thinks, exactly what the media want people to think, particularly at this stage of the campaign.&nbsp; Let me ask any of you:<\/p>\n<p>Does anybody out there think that either candidate is gonna win by 15 points on in November, especially if these third-party and fourth-party people get in there? Are you also aware that there is an effort underway in Utah? That\u2019s considered a Trump state. That\u2019s a Trump state, and it\u2019s considered almost an automatic Trump state, but there\u2019s an effort out there to deny Trump, apparently. I can\u2019t remember what I read this morning before the program.<\/p>\n<p>But somebody\u2019s opining that of all the religions in the country that hate Trump, Mormons are at the top.&nbsp; Not Muslims, but Mormons.&nbsp; And pointing out that Romney is Mormon. Mike Lee is Mormon.&nbsp; Apparently there is an effort out there to put somebody on a presidential candidate third- or fourth- or fifth-party ticket just to take conservative votes away from Trump, so he would be denied Utah.&nbsp; And that would mean even if he won Pennsylvania and Florida and Ohio, if he loses Utah, Hillary wins.&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>I mean, that\u2019s how convoluted this is all getting, and there are people following these polls and they get to the crosstabs and they analyze polls with eight pages of analysis and so forth.&nbsp; And that\u2019s all done. So everybody\u2019s looking for that one glimmer of data, one bit of data in reams of data that shows the rest of it\u2019s not true.&nbsp; So the dependence on polls? I mean, I get it fully. It seems like everybody in politics relies on them for everything.<\/p>\n<p><a target=\"_blank\" href=\"http:\/\/live-rush-limbaugh.pantheonsite.io\/daily\/2016\/08\/04\/hillary_iran_ransom_is_old_news\"><img id=\"eZObject_125992\" class=\"img_middle\" align=\"middle\" src=\"\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/08\/Hillary-Security-Risk-080416.jpg\"\/><\/a>Which is another thing that bugs me, \u2019cause the assumption is that they\u2019re infallible and that they are accurate snapshots of the moment and at this stage of the game. I just&#8230; I don\u2019t know.&nbsp; From the Washington Post: <a target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonpost.com\/politics\/poll-after-conventions-clinton-leads-trump-by-8-points\/2016\/08\/06\/517999c0-5b33-11e6-9aee-8075993d73a2_story.html\">&#8220;Poll Finds Clinton Has Widened Lead of Trump to Eight Points.&#8221;<\/a> This is from yesterday.&nbsp; &#8220;Hillary Clinton has emerged from the two major party conventions and their aftermath with an eight-point lead over Donald Trump &#8230; according to a new Washington Post-ABC News poll.&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;Clinton and her running mate, Sen. Tim Kaine, now lead Trump and his running mate, Gov. Mike Pence, by 50% to 42% among registered voters&#8230; Among likely voters, [Hillary] leads by 51% to 44%,&#8221; a seven-point lead.&nbsp; Here we go: Hillary &#8220;appears to have been aided as well by days of controversy that Trump generated with his sharp criticism of a Muslim-American family whose son &#8230; was killed in Iraq in 2004 and who rebuked Trump on the stage of the Democratic convention.&#8221; &nbsp;&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>Now, let me just tell you something: I don\u2019t know every Trump supporter, obviously.&nbsp; But I don\u2019t know very many of them who are gonna change their thinking because of what somebody says on stage at the Democrat convention.&nbsp; Now, they might change their opinion because of what Trump says.&nbsp; My belief is that the only person who can destroy Trump\u2019s campaign is Trump, and that\u2019s all part of my belief how firm that bond of support is with him.&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>I don\u2019t think media criticism can destroy him, but they want us to believe that it can.&nbsp; And they, the media, want to believe that they can do it.&nbsp; Now, Reuters. &#8220;Reuters\/Ipsos Poll: Clinton\u2019s Lead over Trump Narrows to Less Than Three Points &#8212; Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton\u2019s lead over Republican rival Donald Trump narrowed to less than three percentage points, according to a Reuters\/Ipsos opinion poll released on Friday, down from nearly eight points on Monday.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>The <a target=\"_blank\" href=\"http:\/\/graphics.latimes.com\/usc-presidential-poll-dashboard\/\">USC Dornsife\/Los Angeles Times &#8220;Daybreak&#8221; poll.<\/a>.. This is the relatively new one that I was talking about earlier. They report results at midnight every night.&nbsp; You can see it in a graph on their website, and they\u2019ve got 3,000 respondents.&nbsp; They claim that their results have a 95% chance of being right.&nbsp; This bunch has had Trump up by seven, 6.5%, 6.85% throughout.&nbsp; Now Hillary\u2019s up by one point.&nbsp; That\u2019s her bounce after the Democrat con&#8230;&nbsp; Well, Trump was up by six, so it\u2019s about seven points for Hillary.&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>But it\u2019s not Hillary up by eight or five or 15.&nbsp; And as of Saturday, that poll showed Clinton at 44.6%, Trump at 44.2%, and I think Hillary\u2019s gone up a full point by now.&nbsp; And then, of course, Kellyanne Conway saying there\u2019s a huge, big, hidden Trump vote out there.&nbsp; Now, let\u2019s look at some of these individual stories and ask what the impact of them are as it relates to polling data.&nbsp; But when it boils all down, the news of every presidential race this time of year is polls.&nbsp; Make no mistake about it.&nbsp; It\u2019s an inexact science, and yet everybody throws all their eggs in that basket. &nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>BREAK TRANSCRIPT<\/p>\n<p>RUSH: Look, bottom line, it\u2019s way too early to count anybody out, to count anything out.&nbsp; It is way too early.&nbsp; But that\u2019s what the Drive-Bys are trying to do, and it\u2019s in the New York Times yesterday.&nbsp; <a target=\"_blank\" href=\"http:\/\/live-rush-limbaugh.pantheonsite.io\/daily\/2016\/08\/08\/if_bashing_trump_were_an_olympic_event_the_media_would_win_every_medal\">I don\u2019t mean to be beating up on my buddy Jim Rutenberg<\/a>.&nbsp; But he wrote it.&nbsp; He wrote what they\u2019re doing.&nbsp; Trump is so dangerous they\u2019ve gotta take him out.&nbsp; Well, we gotta apply that to everything we see in the Drive-Bys, then.&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>We have to apply it to the stories they\u2019re doing on TV, in print. We gotta apply it to the polling that they\u2019re doing and reporting.&nbsp; I\u2019m telling you, based on what they\u2019ve done, based on how totally out of balance, I don\u2019t even want to use the word &#8220;unfair&#8221; \u2019cause that\u2019s a childish word, but the imbalance here and the assaultive nature of this, Trump ought to be down 20, if you ask me.&nbsp; The fact that he\u2019s within three in one poll or five or eight in another, he ought to have been destroyed by now.&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>You step back and look at all of this objectively, things they are reporting about Donald Trump, things they\u2019re making up, it\u2019s not just the usual racist, sexist, bigoted, homophobic reprobate.&nbsp; It\u2019s hates babies.&nbsp; It\u2019s one impossible negative trait after another.&nbsp; He ought to have been relegated to irrelevancy, but he hasn\u2019t been.&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>I\u2019ll tell you something else.&nbsp; For any of you in the Trump campaign, going back here to Kellyanne Conway\u2019s point, and Costa, Robert Costa, these two things, you combine \u2019em. Kellyanne Conway, there\u2019s a whole bunch of people out there that polling isn\u2019t touching, that polling isn\u2019t finding.&nbsp; And Robert Costa says a lot of them are people that just don\u2019t vote.&nbsp; They\u2019re so fed up.&nbsp; And they\u2019ve been fed up for so long that they don\u2019t think it matters.&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>They don\u2019t think it matters who wins.&nbsp; They don\u2019t think their votes matter.&nbsp; They\u2019ve just become cynical, and they don\u2019t even show up.&nbsp; And I\u2019ll tell you what else they don\u2019t do.&nbsp; They don\u2019t register.&nbsp; Kellyanne, if they\u2019re out there, then they\u2019ve gotta be found.&nbsp; You\u2019ve gotta find them and you\u2019ve gotta register them.&nbsp; This is why it\u2019s important for campaigns to have organization.&nbsp; Battleground states or wherever.&nbsp; You\u2019ve got to find these people that you claim are there and then you\u2019ve gotta get \u2019em registered and then on Election Day, you\u2019ve gotta get \u2019em to the polls.&nbsp; That\u2019s why all that grassroots stuff is really the heartbeat of the campaign.&nbsp;&nbsp;<\/p>\n<\/section>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>RUSH: Let me grab Teddy here in San Antonio.&nbsp; Teddy, you have a question about polling, it says here.&nbsp; What is it? CALLER:&nbsp; Yes, sir.&nbsp; Thank you very much for taking my call. RUSH:&nbsp; Yes, sir. CALLER:&nbsp; Young Millennial conservative dittos.&nbsp; I guess my question, I\u2019ve been listening a long time and your attitude towards [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":13,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","ngg_post_thumbnail":0},"categories":[],"tags":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v17.6 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>What to Think About the Polls - The Rush Limbaugh Show<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/live-rush-limbaugh.pantheonsite.io\/daily\/2016\/08\/08\/what_to_think_about_the_polls\/\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:title\" content=\"What to Think About the Polls - The Rush Limbaugh Show\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:description\" content=\"RUSH: Let me grab Teddy here in San Antonio.&nbsp; Teddy, you have a question about polling, it says here.&nbsp; What is it? CALLER:&nbsp; Yes, sir.&nbsp; Thank you very much for taking my call. RUSH:&nbsp; Yes, sir. CALLER:&nbsp; Young Millennial conservative dittos.&nbsp; I guess my question, I\u2019ve been listening a long time and your attitude towards [&hellip;]\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.rushlimbaugh.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/listentoit.jpg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"22 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/admin.rushlimbaugh.com\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/admin.rushlimbaugh.com\/\",\"name\":\"The Rush Limbaugh Show\",\"description\":\"Excellence In Broadcasting\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/admin.rushlimbaugh.com\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/live-rush-limbaugh.pantheonsite.io\/daily\/2016\/08\/08\/what_to_think_about_the_polls\/#primaryimage\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"url\":\"\/wp-content\/uploads\/listentoit.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"\/wp-content\/uploads\/listentoit.jpg\"},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/live-rush-limbaugh.pantheonsite.io\/daily\/2016\/08\/08\/what_to_think_about_the_polls\/#webpage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/live-rush-limbaugh.pantheonsite.io\/daily\/2016\/08\/08\/what_to_think_about_the_polls\/\",\"name\":\"What to Think About the Polls - The Rush Limbaugh Show\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/admin.rushlimbaugh.com\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/live-rush-limbaugh.pantheonsite.io\/daily\/2016\/08\/08\/what_to_think_about_the_polls\/#primaryimage\"},\"datePublished\":\"2016-08-08T21:10:22+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2016-08-08T21:10:22+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/live-rush-limbaugh.pantheonsite.io\/daily\/2016\/08\/08\/what_to_think_about_the_polls\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/live-rush-limbaugh.pantheonsite.io\/daily\/2016\/08\/08\/what_to_think_about_the_polls\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/live-rush-limbaugh.pantheonsite.io\/daily\/2016\/08\/08\/what_to_think_about_the_polls\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.rushlimbaugh.com\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"What to Think About the Polls\"}]},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.rushlimbaugh.com\/daily\/author\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"What to Think About the Polls - The Rush Limbaugh Show","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/live-rush-limbaugh.pantheonsite.io\/daily\/2016\/08\/08\/what_to_think_about_the_polls\/","twitter_card":"summary","twitter_title":"What to Think About the Polls - The Rush Limbaugh Show","twitter_description":"RUSH: Let me grab Teddy here in San Antonio.&nbsp; Teddy, you have a question about polling, it says here.&nbsp; What is it? CALLER:&nbsp; Yes, sir.&nbsp; Thank you very much for taking my call. RUSH:&nbsp; Yes, sir. CALLER:&nbsp; Young Millennial conservative dittos.&nbsp; I guess my question, I\u2019ve been listening a long time and your attitude towards [&hellip;]","twitter_image":"https:\/\/www.rushlimbaugh.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/listentoit.jpg","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"","Est. reading time":"22 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/admin.rushlimbaugh.com\/#website","url":"https:\/\/admin.rushlimbaugh.com\/","name":"The Rush Limbaugh Show","description":"Excellence In Broadcasting","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/admin.rushlimbaugh.com\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"ImageObject","@id":"https:\/\/live-rush-limbaugh.pantheonsite.io\/daily\/2016\/08\/08\/what_to_think_about_the_polls\/#primaryimage","inLanguage":"en-US","url":"\/wp-content\/uploads\/listentoit.jpg","contentUrl":"\/wp-content\/uploads\/listentoit.jpg"},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/live-rush-limbaugh.pantheonsite.io\/daily\/2016\/08\/08\/what_to_think_about_the_polls\/#webpage","url":"https:\/\/live-rush-limbaugh.pantheonsite.io\/daily\/2016\/08\/08\/what_to_think_about_the_polls\/","name":"What to Think About the Polls - The Rush Limbaugh Show","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/admin.rushlimbaugh.com\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/live-rush-limbaugh.pantheonsite.io\/daily\/2016\/08\/08\/what_to_think_about_the_polls\/#primaryimage"},"datePublished":"2016-08-08T21:10:22+00:00","dateModified":"2016-08-08T21:10:22+00:00","author":{"@id":""},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/live-rush-limbaugh.pantheonsite.io\/daily\/2016\/08\/08\/what_to_think_about_the_polls\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/live-rush-limbaugh.pantheonsite.io\/daily\/2016\/08\/08\/what_to_think_about_the_polls\/"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/live-rush-limbaugh.pantheonsite.io\/daily\/2016\/08\/08\/what_to_think_about_the_polls\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.rushlimbaugh.com\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"What to Think About the Polls"}]},{"@type":"Person","@id":"","url":"https:\/\/www.rushlimbaugh.com\/daily\/author\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rushlimbaugh.com\/api\/wp\/v2\/posts\/214162"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rushlimbaugh.com\/api\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rushlimbaugh.com\/api\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rushlimbaugh.com\/api\/wp\/v2\/users\/13"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rushlimbaugh.com\/api\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=214162"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rushlimbaugh.com\/api\/wp\/v2\/posts\/214162\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rushlimbaugh.com\/api\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=214162"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rushlimbaugh.com\/api\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=214162"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rushlimbaugh.com\/api\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=214162"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}