Political Polls: Can We Trust Them?
RadioEd is a biweekly podcast created by the DU Newsroom that taps into the University of Denver’s deep pool of bright brains to explore new takes on today’s top stories.
Since Donald Trump's upset victory in the 2016 election, skepticism of political polls has grown steadily. After all, the numbers showed Hillary Clinton in the lead from start to finish. Pollster and political analyst Floyd Ciruli talks to us about what happened four years ago, the likelihood of the president eking out a similar victory on Nov. 3, and what it all says about the state of the country and democracy worldwide.
Show Notes
Floyd Ciruli is an adjunct professor at the Josef Korbel School of International Studies and director of the Crossley Center for Public Opinion Research.
In this episode:
- Were the Polls Way Off in 2016?
- A 2016 Review: Why Key State Polls Were Wrong About Trump
- Biden Gains Popularity in Post-Convention Polling
- Trump Trails Biden, but Polls Show the President Has Some Strengths
- Polls from FiveThirtyEight and RealClearPolitics
More information:
- Election Central: Pre-Labor Day Preview
- Floyd Ciruli leads a discussion on the accuracy of political polling, the so-called "silent majority," whether the race will tighten, the strategies of current underdogs, who is going to vote and what election night will look like.
- Watch the event
