The Des Moines Register and CNN announced Saturday night that they would not release their crucial Iowa poll, citing an error in which one candidate’s name was left out of polling questions.
Jonathan Martin of the New York Times tweeted that the candidate who was left out was former South Bend, Indiana, Mayor Pete Buttigieg:
‘LONG Overdue’: Trump Calls for Ukraine to Oust Zelenskyy
Watch: El-Sayed Still Can’t Condemn Dead Ayatollah Khamenei, Man Who Killed and Oppressed His Own People
Wage growth lags inflation, making the affordability crisis feel even more acute
China is in bed with the world’s worst regimes
A new biography revisits ‘No Country for Old Men’ author Cormac McCarthy
Flock executive defends crime-fighting cameras as ACLU attorney questions company’s motives amid backlash
MAP IT: DOJ illegal voting crackdown sweeps 17 states as razor-thin elections face scrutiny
Delaware neighborhood on edge after masked men with apparent weapons knock on doors of homes
Trump says he’d ‘love’ to have Sen. John Fetterman as a Republican amid growing speculation
Trump says he will ‘make a decision’ on Pentagon’s plans to livestream Nidal Hasan’s firing squad execution
Toxicology reports reveal same controlled substances in 2 Ole Miss students found dead: court docs
President talks ‘Trump Ocean,’ trades jokes with Tennessee crowd as Kid Rock kicks off sprawling rally
Supreme Court climate case could bankrupt oil companies, send gas prices soaring, experts warn
Trump calls for Ukraine to replace Zelenskyy after clash over Russia diesel deal: ‘Get a new president’
Christa Pike discharged from hospital, returned to prison after botched execution, attorneys say
News: The @DMRegister is weighing whether to release their @jaselzer poll as planned tonight after @PeteButtigieg camp complained that his name was left off at least one survey questionnaire https://t.co/9dNNMrtUmc
— Jonathan Martin (@jmartNYT) February 2, 2020
Pundits had been eagerly anticipating the release of what Politico called “the most consequential poll in politics,” as it reflects expectations of the outcome of the first contest of the presidential primary, to be held Monday..
But it was not to be.
A statement on the Des Moines Register website read, in part:
The Des Moines Register, CNN and Selzer & Co. have made the decision to not release the final installment of the CNN/Des Moines Register/Mediacom poll as planned this evening.
Nothing is more important to the Register and its polling partners than the integrity of the Iowa Poll. Today, a respondent raised an issue with the way the survey was administered, which could have compromised the results of the poll. It appears a candidate’s name was omitted in at least one interview in which the respondent was asked to name their preferred candidate.
‘LONG Overdue’: Trump Calls for Ukraine to Oust Zelenskyy
Watch: El-Sayed Still Can’t Condemn Dead Ayatollah Khamenei, Man Who Killed and Oppressed His Own People
Wage growth lags inflation, making the affordability crisis feel even more acute
China is in bed with the world’s worst regimes
A new biography revisits ‘No Country for Old Men’ author Cormac McCarthy
Flock executive defends crime-fighting cameras as ACLU attorney questions company’s motives amid backlash
MAP IT: DOJ illegal voting crackdown sweeps 17 states as razor-thin elections face scrutiny
Delaware neighborhood on edge after masked men with apparent weapons knock on doors of homes
Trump says he’d ‘love’ to have Sen. John Fetterman as a Republican amid growing speculation
Trump says he will ‘make a decision’ on Pentagon’s plans to livestream Nidal Hasan’s firing squad execution
Toxicology reports reveal same controlled substances in 2 Ole Miss students found dead: court docs
President talks ‘Trump Ocean,’ trades jokes with Tennessee crowd as Kid Rock kicks off sprawling rally
Supreme Court climate case could bankrupt oil companies, send gas prices soaring, experts warn
Trump calls for Ukraine to replace Zelenskyy after clash over Russia diesel deal: ‘Get a new president’
Christa Pike discharged from hospital, returned to prison after botched execution, attorneys say
While this appears to be isolated to one surveyor, we cannot confirm that with certainty. Therefore, the partners made the difficult decision to not to move forward with releasing the Iowa Poll.
CNN also had to cancel an hour of news programming that had been planned around the poll.
Politico reported: “Underscoring the attention paid to the poll, CNN had planned an hourlong TV program around its release. Instead, at 9 p.m. Eastern, the network’s political director, David Chalian, went on the air to explain why the poll wasn’t being issued.”
The stunning, last-minute decision, 48 hours before the Iowa caucuses are to be held, raised suspicions that the poll must have held bad news for one of the major frontrunners.
In 2016, supporters of Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) accused the Democratic Party of rigging the result for former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton after she won by a narrow margin in which some delegates were awarded to her by coin toss, and another was mysteriously switched to Clinton from Sanders.
Story cited here.
