Poythress: The ladies like me
June 24, 2009 at 3:56 pm by Thomas Wheatley in News
Democratic gubernatorial candidate David Poythress says a recent Rasmussen poll that both former Governor Roy Barnes and state Insurance Commissioner John “PAC Man” Oxendine enjoy strong leads in the 2010 governor’s race was kind of quirky.
In an email blast to supporters today, Poythress basically says the poll’s sample size wasn’t large enough and that chicks dig him. Oh, and that Georgia Attorney General Thurbert Baker, one of Poythress’ Democratic opponents, either lost a lot of support since the last poll was conducted or never had any to begin with.
1. The sample was only 247 respondents. Most legitimate statewide polls require no less than 400-600 respondents to get an accurate gauge on public opinion;
2. The crosstabs show that all of the respondents supporting me were all female. While I believe I have strong support across the state among women, the fact that not a single male supported me suggests a badly skewed sampling process;
3. Another poll released last week showed Thurbert Baker at 30%, in this poll he was at 8%. I seriously doubt that the Attorney General has dropped 22% in the span of a week. Clearly one of these polls is way off base!
We’re not pollsters, but maybe Poythress is right about the first gripe. And women do like a man in uniform. On the last point…well, maybe it’s only THE OX that’s immune to front-page stories about campaign contributions. (UPDATE: Yes, yes, we know the Rasmussen poll was conducted on June 17, prior to the AJC’s story about Baker’s allegedly questionable campaign contributions. Just some snark and a poke at the AJC-hates-Oxendine contingent, folks.)
(Photo by Joeff Davis)
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