"Last week, the polling firm Gallup announced that it would no longer survey presidential-approval ratings. This news stirred suspicions. President Trump's numbers are declining badly, much worse than Joe Biden's at the equivalent point in his presidency. Gallup's most recent presidential-approval poll, in December, had Trump at 36 percent-well below the RealClearPolitics poll average of 42 percent. Trump is known for taking punitive action."
"Assuming the worst is often prudent, but Gallup's own explanation-citing changes in the company's business strategy-makes a sad commercial sense. Quality polling companies such as Gallup inhabit a world of rising costs, declining rewards, and multiplying competition. Polling worked because people once accepted a call on the phone the same way they accepted jury duty: as one of the small obligations of citizenship that helped democracy work better."
Gallup announced it would stop surveying presidential-approval ratings, prompting suspicion because President Trump's approval is falling notably lower than Joe Biden's at a comparable point. Gallup's December poll put Trump at 36 percent, well under the RealClearPolitics average of 42 percent. Trump has a history of suing pollsters and media organizations over unfavorable results, and other companies have paid settlements after facing legal pressure. Gallup cited business-strategy changes, but polling faces rising costs, greater competition, and diminishing public willingness to answer survey calls, eroding the traditional civic norms that supported high-quality national polls.
Read at The Atlantic
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