Mainstream political polls that were wrong about the 2016 presidential race still use a methodology favoring Democrats, women and younger voters to calculate President Donald Trump's approval ratings, a new analysis contends.
The analysis, posted by Bombthrowers, charges the top polls oversample an average of 29 percent more Democrats than Republicans — chopping about 8 points off the president's approval ratings, from 46 percent to 38 percent.
For example, Bombthrowers's analyst James Simpson charged that a recent Economist survey on Trump's approval rating used 58 percent more Democrats than Republicans.
"In every poll, Democrat respondents outnumbered Republicans by significant amounts," Simpson wrote.
"The Economist poll was the worst. Only 24 percent of respondents (360) were Republicans compared to 38 percent (570) Democrats — which means that 58 percent more Democrats were polled than Republicans…
"On average, in these seven widely recognized national polls, only 29 percent (409 people) of the total 1,383 polled were Republicans, while 37 percent (518) were Democrats.
"Another way of saying it is that, on average, 29 percent more Democrats than Republicans were polled."
Simpson contends choosing "likely voters" is the best gauge, noting Trump pollster John McLaughlin and Rasmussen use likely voters and show Trump's approval rating higher than the others.
John McLaughlin, a pollster for Trump, put the Bombthrower report on his company's website and emailed it around Washington, the Washington Examiner reported.
"Not only does it affect [Trump's] job rating and favorable rating, it also affects the policies and issues these polls purport to measure," McLaughlin wrote, according to the Examiner.
"Maybe this is why so many Republicans, Independents and Trump voters seem to disregard media polls. It appears the media is once again sacrificing its credibility for its liberal, anti-Trump bias."
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