Posted on 10/31/2004 3:45:41 AM PST by dvwjr
Here are the 'Rep/Dem/Ind' breakdowns and supporting internal data for the last eight Fox News/Opinion Dynamics presidential preference polls, including the October 27-28, 2004 poll which was released Friday. Also included was the recent Fox News October 28-29, 2004 one-time tracking poll which was quickly released on Saturday. I am publishing this information in one place for easy trend comparison versus looking at each Fox News/Opinion Dynamics poll via PDF files. Also included is a re-weighting of the Fox News/Opinion Dynamics polls to the year 2000 presidential election 'Rep/Dem/Ind' partisan affiliation (from VNS exit poll data) results labeled "Adjusted Numbers", for comparison purposes only. No prediction is implied by this 'what-if' re-weighting column, it is just to show what would happen if the Fox News/Opinion Dynamics internals were "Zogby-fied".
(Excerpt) Read more at foxnews.com ...
Some comments have been made over the 'tightening' of the race by comparing the results of the last two Fox News polls conducted during the last few days. Most of the variance between the two polls is 'statistical noise', but there is enough of a change in the delta between Bush and Kerry in the Independents to show a trend towards Bush. The change in the Fox News poll released on 10/29/2004 [50% Bush, 45% Kerry, 0% Nader] and the Fox News poll released on 10/30/2004 [47% Bush, 45% Kerry, 1% Nader] is due to the change in the sample composition. The sample R/D/I splits had the Democrats go up by (+3%) and the Republicans go down by (-2.67%). Since Fox News/Opinion Dynamics does not re-weight by pre-set partisan affiliation percentages, the change in the sample composition in ONE day must be due to the inability to contact as many Republicans as the day before. I doubt that the change in the polling sample composition was due to either lack of enthusiasm about their party affiliation by Republicans. Bottom line: the underlying poll internals remained about the same, with more Independents beginning to favor Bush.
If the poll result percentages in the table show below are rounded off so as not to have a fractional component, the results should match the published polls for each polling organization. The fractional differences in the table poll results are due to the calculations done to distribute the sample number of Registered or Likely voter responses which was necessary to avoid any great inaccuracies due to the rounding already performed by the polling organizations when their results are published.
Notes: In some cases polling organizations will have more than the three categories of partisan political affiliation (Rep/Dem/Ind). When such cases exist, those 'Others' have been added to the 'Independent' category for comparison purposes.
Source: Fox News poll, October 28-29, 2004 PDF file has date mistake.
Source: Fox News poll, October 27-28, 2004
Source: Fox News poll, October 17-18, 2004
Source: Fox News poll, October 3-4, 2004
Source: Fox News poll, September 21-22, 2004
Source: Fox News poll, September 7-8, 2004
Source: Fox News poll, August 24-25, 2004
Source: Fox News poll, August 3-4, 2004
Source: Fox News poll, July 20-21, 2004
It will be interesting to compare these Fox News/Opinion Dynamics internals as compared to other polls conducted during similar time periods. Look below at the Newsweek poll of October 27-29, 2004 of 1,005 'Registered' voters as compared to the Washington Post tracking poll of October 25-28, 2004 of 2,047 'Likely' voters and the Fox News poll of October 27-28, 2004 (dated 10/29/04) of 1,200 'Likely' voters. Now look at the Fox News tracking poll of October 28-29, 2004 (dated 10/30/04) of 1,200 'Likely' voters. Notice that the tables Fox News tables listed below show a bit more of a swing towards Bush in the preference of the Independents from the previous Fox News poll of October 27-28, 2004 when it was [45% Bush, 44% Kerry, 1% Nader] to the Independents in the current Fox News poll of October 28-29, 2004 of [44% Bush, 41% Kerry, 2% Nader]. The other tables listed below from the Washington Post tracking poll and the latest Newsweek poll during the overlapping polling dates show that the Fox News internals have fallen into line with the trends in the other two major polls shown.
Bottom line from the latest Fox News/Opinion Dynamics polling numbers, which agree with the trends in the internals of other major polling organizations: The Independents are just beginning to break for Bush...
I have created a temporary 'ping' list to many who had expressed interest in these 'Rep/Dem/Ind' poll breakdowns. If you wish to be added (or removed) from this 'ping' list, please place a reply on this thread and I will attempt to clean-up this list so as to not bother those who do not wish to read this type of poll analysis.
Hope this helps...
dvwjr
Fox News/Opinion Dynamics poll analysis ping...
dvwjr
BTW..sewriously, I'd encourage you , after the election, to turn your considerable statistical expertise to an analysis of how well the major polls did in predidcting the election..
Looks like the only time they polled more GOP and Dem was the previous poll. And Bush still wins 7 out of 9! This is looking very good.
Thanks for the ping. Just as I suspected, underweighted GOP sample. Given the MOE, this is to be expected from one poll to another. It's unfortunate that the "weekend factor" has to come in so close to voting day. Maybe we could amend the constitution to move elections to Thursday!
Good Job dvwjr, but what does this all mean comparatively and statistictly? Bottom line, is Bush safe? Does Skerry stand a chance?
Things change in the last hours of a campaign. These Fox News/Opinion Dynamics number seem to indicate that the Independents are begining to split for Bush. Is Bush safe? Not until he gets 270 Electoral College votes on November 2/3! Does Kerry have a chance? Yes, but unless the the very LAST national polls (and battleground state polls) show that a massive voter turnout is going to go Kerry's way, then Kerry is drawing to an 'inside-straight'...
For Kerry it is possible, it is not probable.
dvwjr
Bush 49%
Kerry 44%
Undecided 7%
Earlier today I also had recalculated the ARG poll result for yesterday, which according to them showed Bush 48%, Kerry 49% and Undecided at 4%. But they oversampling Democrats, so I calibrated using the same assumption as above (equal at 37.5%, and I at 25%). Here is what I got:
Bush 50%
Kerry 47%
Undecided 4%
My conclusion: we have to be really careful in reading the poll results...
Here's hoping for a 2002-style result, in which the polls missed the fact that America is actually much more conservative than the pollsters, pundits and media bosses want us to be.
Your re-weighting of the latest Fox News poll is close enough for government work :-)
Let me see at 37.5% R, 37.5% D, 25% I, that gives me...
48.92% Bush
44.07% Kerry
00.56% Nader
06.44% Undecided
This exercise works because the base sample was unweighted to begin with...
The ARG numbers can be crunched in the same way, however they were re-weighted before they were published, so you need to get back to the un-weighted numbers before we re-weight again. But anyway:
49.4% Bush
46.5% Kerry
01.2% Nader
03.0% Undecided
Ralph isn't going to make the 2.7% he got last time...
dvwjr
Uh-oh... Considering Republicans usually see government work in a negative manner, it means I have to be insulted... :-)
The exercise above only to show how poll results can easily change simply because of using different weight... In some cases, like in ARG numbers, it changes the order: from Kerry up 1% to Bush up 3%. I forgot that the ARG numbers had been weighted... Thanks!
I'm sleepy... I meant I should feel insulted... :-)
Andy Card was just on Fox & Friends and said the undecideds were breaking for the Pres 60/40
Yeah, I can see that. The MSM have had us belived that the 'norm' is the undecideds breaking for the challenger. Not true. As some bloggers have shown, the score is 50-50, if not actually trending to the incumbent.
You are very smart, and I am grateful for that, and all your hard work to post your results, and show us. Thanks again!
Thanks for the analysis, but frankly, I'm suffering with "poll fatigue". When President Bush is ahead, I worry about all those cell phone Kedward idiots and the massive Dem vote fraud machine (I'm reading Hugh Hewitt's book "If it's not close, they can't cheat"), and when we're behind, I worry even more. In the latter case, I worry about the future of our country, judicial appointments, cabinet appointments, and those gloating, coreless power-hungry Democrats. I agree with Mark Steyn that a sKerry victory would only prove American unexceptionalism and utter lack of core principles. So I fast and pray for the future of our country.
Amazing... Bush actually IMPROVED, relative to the partisan breakdown. What's up with Fox trying to dispirit the base?
Thanks for this - it helped to see the difference in the demographics of who they polled.
Unfortunately, Fox & Friends (who seems to be leaning liberal this a.m.) didn't bother to say anything about the make-up of those who were polled over the past few days.
They just released a new one and the Pres is down another point from yesterday. I'm going to check their web site to see if it lists the demographics.
FOX IS MAKING ME ANGRY!
From the article/analysis:
Some comments have been made over the 'tightening' of the race by comparing the results of the last two Fox News polls conducted during the last few days. Most of the variance between the two polls is 'statistical noise', but there is enough of a change in the delta between Bush and Kerry in the Independents to show a trend towards Bush. The change in the Fox News poll released on 10/29/2004 [50% Bush, 45% Kerry, 0% Nader] and the Fox News poll released on 10/30/2004 [47% Bush, 45% Kerry, 1% Nader] is due to the change in the sample composition. The sample R/D/I splits had the Democrats go up by (+3%) and the Republicans go down by (-2.67%). Since Fox News/Opinion Dynamics does not re-weight by pre-set partisan affiliation percentages, the change in the sample composition in ONE day must be due to the inability to contact as many Republicans as the day before. I doubt that the change in the polling sample composition was due to either lack of enthusiasm about their party affiliation by Republicans. Bottom line: the underlying poll internals remained about the same, with more Independents beginning to favor Bush.
< snip >
Bottom line from the latest Fox News/Opinion Dynamics polling numbers, which agree with the trends in the internals of other major polling organizations: The Independents are just beginning to break for Bush...
There we go! Always love the concise "analysis for dummies" bottom line! :^D
To ALL Freepers and Lurker voters:
GO to the polls and vote for Bush. Take your friends with you to do the same. If you know any Zell Miller type Democrats that support Bush and they are voting for him, take them as well.
Vote EARLY to avoid the rush. If you wait until November 2nd, make SURE to go and vote!! And if you do wait until November 2nd, remember:
IGNORE ANYTHING IN THE MEDIA YOU HEAR (i.e., making a fast, early call in Florida for Kerry, etc.). WE CAN AVOID A REPEAT OF THE FLORIDA ELECTION DEBACLE OF 2000 THIS YEAR IF GOP TURNOUT IS STRONG, imho.
[Expletive deleted] !!!
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