It feels impossible to trust polls — and equally impossible to ignore them. The polling industry faces well-known problems: Only 6 to 7 percent of people will pick up a phone call from a pollster; polls completely failed to find segments of Donald Trump’s base in 2020; and predicting exactly […] Read more »
Red wave crashing? GOP momentum slips as fall sprint begins
The possibility of a great red wave still looms. But as the 2022 midterm elections enter their final two-month sprint, leading Republicans concede that their party’s advantage may be slipping even as Democrats confront their president’s weak standing, deep voter pessimism and the weight of history this fall. The political […] Read more »
The shadow stalking Democrats’ improving numbers: Can polls be trusted?
Over the past two months, FiveThirtyEight’s average of congressional ballot polling has shifted from a two-point Republican advantage to a half-point Democratic one. Its average of approval polling for President Biden has gone from Biden being underwater by 17 points (that is, his “disapprove” percentage is 17 points higher than […] Read more »
Senate Rating Changes: Arizona, Pennsylvania to Leans Democratic
Key Points• We are moving the Senate races in Arizona and Pennsylvania from Toss-up to Leans Democratic on account of candidate weaknesses for Republicans in both states and what appears to be a not-as-bleak environment for Democrats.• The overall race for the Senate remains a Toss-up, with 49 seats at […] Read more »
From a Republican ‘tsunami’ to a ‘puddle’: Why the forecast for November is changing
It was a referendum. Now it’s a choice. For political professionals in both parties, that’s the capsule explanation for why the Democratic position in the midterm elections appears to have improved so much since summer began. When the election looked to be primarily a referendum on the performance of the […] Read more »
GOP seat lead shrinks as Biden approval ticks up — CBS News Battleground Tracker poll
Republicans head into the fall still in position to gain enough House seats for a majority, but a tumultuous summer has made their advantage appear a little smaller today — with a trend so far pointing toward narrow gains instead of a wave. Our CBS News Battleground Tracker estimates Republicans […] Read more »