Why did RCP drop the Pew Poll out, it dropped Obama's average to 5.9

[gabeana]

http://www.realclearpolitics.com/epolls/2008/president/us/general_election_mccain_vs_obama-225.html

FOX News 10/28 - 10/29 924 LV 3.0 47 44 Obama +3
Rasmussen Reports 10/27 - 10/29 3000 LV 2.0 51 46 Obama +5
Gallup (Traditional)* 10/27 - 10/29 1825 LV 2.0 50 45 Obama +5
Gallup (Expanded)* 10/27 - 10/29 2437 LV 2.0 51 44 Obama +7
Diageo/Hotline 10/27 - 10/29 869 LV 3.6 48 42 Obama +6
Reuters/C-SPAN/Zogby 10/27 - 10/29 1179 LV 2.9 50 43 Obama +7
ABC News/Wash Post 10/26 - 10/29 1327 LV 2.5 52 44 Obama +8
CBS News/NY Times 10/25 - 10/29 1005 LV -- 52 41 Obama +11
IBD/TIPP 10/25 - 10/29 894 LV 3.0 48 44 Obama +4
GWU/Battleground
and what gets me is that they left Fox's poll at the top of the list eventhough it was released much earlier in the day to CBS/NY times poll which is at the bottom

strange or obvious

[MadBadger]

1. Technically, The Fox Poll is the most recent release, so it makes sense. That said...

Pew shouldnt have been dropped, because it falls between 10/23-10/29, which is the span listed on RCP

[Cali_Democrat]

5. Why isn't the Gallup daily tracking poll of registered voters included?

RCP only includes the expanded and traditional tracking polls, why?

If that was included, it would bring up Obama's average.

[MadBadger]

6. Because most sites think LV is more accurate. For example, TPM uses the Expanded Poll

[progressivebydesign]

10. But the LV models don't mean shit right now, because there's no precedent for this time.

The registrations have been so over the top, and the participation is so heavy. Add to that the racial and age makeup of the new voters, and the LV models become worthless.

[Onlooker]

2. I think it's a common methodology to drop the most outlier poll ...

... and I think Pew had Obama leading by the largest margin.

[itsrobert]

3. Don't you drop the 1 on each end of the scale?

???

[HughMoran]

4. CBS replaced it

I noticed that too - oh, well.

[Cattledog]

7. Pew is 2 days old.

[pointsoflight]

8. It was the oldest of the set....

...in terms of when they were in the field.

[kennetha]

9. These Polls are Driving me Crazy

Obama's lead in the national polls is either: 3, 4, 5, 6. 7. 8. or 11. It is a bit comforting that the average shows a substantial lead still -- even if a little lower today with the dropping of Pew. But I'd be much happier (and less obsessed with what the next poll is going to say) if they just converged on a nice number instead. But they don't seem to be converging at all.

Well, i guess that's not quite right. With the the dropping of Newsweek and Pew the spread between the highest and lowest has been reduced, I guess the polls are displaying a tad more convergence.

[krawhitham]

11. RCP leans rethug, DUH

[progressivebydesign]

12. Frankly, because Fox is so blatantly a GOP-mouthpiece, their polls should NOT be in there.

There is no way in hell they are accurate. Fox has no interest in fair polling.