On December 14, Rasmussen Reports released this poll, matching up Ron Paul as the Republican nominee against both Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama. The results: Clinton 49, Paul 37, other or undecided 14. Alternatively, Obama 50, Paul 31, other or undecided 19.
I find this kind of disingenoius. Most people, the general public don’t even know who Paul is. I wonder if the poll Rassmussan even informed people about his views. Hillary is a bit more known. Frankly, these things are like snap shots, just look at the races in Iowa. Once some real fairness is added to debates, I won’t hold my breath, results will be alot more interesting and people would benefit.
What’s disingenuous about it? “Disingenuous” means deceitful or dishonest. It’s a simple preference poll. Respondents were asked which candidate they would prefer. That’s all. You’re correct that most people have no clue who Ron Paul is, but that’s irrelevant, and it’s certainly not the responsibility of an impartial polling organization to provide background information on the poll subject.
Why Rasmussen was commissioned to do this poll is beyond me….Ron Paul is not going to get the Republican nomination for president; he’ll be incredibly lucky if he even has any delegates at the convention. You can bet that the vast majority of respondents who chose him did so because he was the guy with the letter “R” after his name, whether they had even heard of him or not.
It really doesn’t matter, these are like the polls that showed Huckabee behind, until people in IA and NH started paying attention to him, then he shot up in the polls.
You can bet if Paul (or any other of the lesser candidates on either side) won the nomination, they would end up polling much closer to a more popular candidate from the rival party because the general public would get to know them.