ABC: Mark Penn's polling memo - The Shift to Hillary - is not "airworthy"

[Adelante]

Here is the memo:

Polling Memo: The Shift to Hillary
by Mark Penn, Chief Strategist
3/20/2008 11:08:14 AM

There are some pretty big changes happening out there with the voters. Barack Obama recently declared himself the frontrunner in the race, although there are 10 contests remaining and MI and FL have not yet been decided. But a look at the polls shows that Sen. Obama’s lead nationally with Democrats has been evaporating. The Gallup daily tracking poll shows Hillary leading Sen. Obama among Democrats by 7 points, and the latest Zogby/Reuters poll has Sen. Obama’s lead down from 14 points last month to just 3 points now. This suggests a strong swing in momentum in the race to Hillary since the Texas and Ohio primaries earlier this month.

http://blog.hillaryclinton.com/blog/main/2008/03/20/150814


And ABC's opinion of it:

ABC News Polling Unit on Clinton Pollster's Memo: 'Full of Overblown Claims'

March 20, 2008 2:05 PM

Clinton senior strategist Mark Penn put out a polling memo today heralding a "shift to Hillary."

Peyton Craighill of the ABC News Polling Unit reports: "Mark Penn’s note is full of overblown claims based on current polling. He’s cherry picking numbers from recent polls. Much of his claim of a Clinton swing is based on the latest tracking data from Gallup in which Clinton is now ahead by 7 points. If you go back two more days Obama has a 7-point lead in a separate USA Today/Gallup poll. CBS has a new poll out today that shows a close 46-43 percent Obama-Clinton race. The CBS poll also has the match ups with McCain at 48-43 percent for Obama-McCain and 46-44 percent for Clinton-McCain. We see little indication of a shift to Clinton. Of the nine polls cited in his note, five of them are not airworthy."

("Airworthy" is a term our Polling Unit uses for polls so poorly done we are discouraged from mentioning them on air.)

http://blogs.abcnews.com/politicalpunch/2008/03/abc-news-pollin.html

[Stephanie]

1. Penn: p.s. Did I mention Rev. Wright?

Rev. Wright, Rev. Wright!

[99th_Monkey]

2. Imagine that! M$M people acting like real journalists for a change

by not simply regurgitating what's handed them, but giving it some critical analysis.

Too bad M$M hasn't been doing this with BushCo for the past 7 years, but at least it's
a start. Who knows? Maybe it will catch on.

[earthlover]

3. I am struck by Penn's words....he is getting paid millions for THIS?

His release is not much different, actually not at all different, from what we see posted here day in and day out. And he gets paid millions.

[Adelante]

11. I know!

We could all be rich.

[Me.]

4. Like Rove

Penn has the numbers :rofl:

[ChimpersMcSmirkers]

5. Penn is reason enough to not be a Hillbilly supporter

[quiet.american]

6. Hmn, I guess Penn is now resorting to abandoning the "reality-based community." nt

[keep_it_real]

7. No, this this suggests how well the MSM has swift-boated Obama

At the behest of the powers that be for their long rang plans.

[SunsetDreams]

8. lolololol

desperate are we?

You can fool some people some of the time, but not all the time.

Thank you ABC

[jgraz]

9. Never forget: Penn is a professional poll-rigger.

http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Penn%2C_Schoen_and_Berland_Associates

Penn, Schoen and Berland (PSB) has played a pioneering role in the use of polling operations, especially "exit polls," in facilitating coups. Its primary mission is to shape the perception that the group installed into power in a targeted country has broad popular support. The group began work in Serbia during the period that its principle, Mark Penn, was President Clinton's top political advisor.

[totodeinhere]

10. Penn reminds me of Clinton supporters at DU who cherry pick polls.

[ORDem]

12. What a maroon Penn is. Still trying to keep the MI/FL uncertainty alive. And the idea that Hillary

has any chance to close the delegate gap. She doesn't.

[Leo 9]

13. Yes, but is Penn sponge worthy?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Sponge

If he's for HRC, probably not.

[Adelante]

14. Fox has a post-Wright poll out with decent news for Obama

I'm posting it in this thread because I'm past my OP limit.

Poll: Majority Doesn't Believe Obama Shares Wright's Views
By Eric Kleefeld - March 20, 2008, 5:57PM

A new poll from Fox News, the first major poll taken since Barack Obama's big speech on race relations, shows that the effect of the Jeremiah Wright flap might not be so bad after all.

By a 57%-24% margin, registered voters do not believe that Obama shares Wright's controversial views. The internals show only 17% of Democrats saying Obama shares Wright's ideas, along with 20% of independents and 36% of Republicans.

Fox also asked respondents whether they had doubts about Obama because of his association with Wright. The results: 35% Yes, 54% No, with the numbers standing at 26%-66% for Democrats, 27%-61% among independents, and 56%-33% with Republicans.

http://tpmelectioncentral.talkingpointsmemo.com/