Experts: how bogus is the Daily Kos/Research 2000 Poll? (oversamples 60+, males, southerners?)

DailyKos and Research 2000 have a new poll of Republicans out (link) that's (unfortunately) best summarized by the Dave Weigel headline "Poll: Many Republicans Believe Obama is Racist Socialist Who Was Elected by ACORN" (link). The problem with DailyKos' attempt to make the GOP is that they appear to have oversampled those over 60 years of age, males, and southerners, skewing the results. I'm not a polling expert so I might be wrong, but here's the demographics and if anyone can shed some light on this leave a comment:

MEN 1125 56%
WOMEN 878 44%
WHITE 1787 89%
OTHER/REF 216 11%
18-29 178 9%
30-44 418 21%
45-59 664 33%
60+ 743 37%
NE 217 11%
SOUTH 846 42%
MW 437 22%
WEST 503 25%

Comments

Mr. 24ahead.com: I am here in earnest. You do raise a very valid question -- oversampling is often a problem with polls like these. However, with this specific poll, it may not actually matter. With many of the questions, responses were pretty similar across age groups, gender, and region. Two examples: QUESTION: Do you believe ACORN stole the 2008 election? Yes: All 21% Men 23%, Women 19% 18-29 19%, 30-44 24%, 34-59 21%, 60+ 19% NE 18%, South 23%, MW 20%, West 19% *** That looks like a pretty tight spread to me across these different groups. Is 21% a misleading number? QUESTION: Do you believe Barack Obama is a racist who hates White people? Yes: All 31% Men 34%, Women 27% 18-29 28%, 30-44 30%, 45-59 31%, 60+ 33% NE 27%, South 35%, MW 30%, West 28% ** So the spread is a little wider. But is 31% all up that misleading for this question?

The demographic of this sampling appears to be very representative of the current makeup of the Republican Party. There is no arguing the Party is primarily older whites, more male than female, with a heavy concentration in the South. Any survey sampling should represent the larger whole and this one is right-on.

Hey Roads, Massachusetts could teach you a thing or two!!!! How do you spell Scott Brown? HA!

Mary is right, by the way my father was a so called southerner but his grandfather was a union civil war trooper a combat trooper 30th mass inf 1861-1865 you know that last civil war? my father was a combat trooper world war two my gandfather the son of that civil war trooper was a world war one U.S. Army officer. so what is it about hate being used to remove our right? this BS By KOS Is a tool of evil little monkeys. Buy Guns and stay free and obama is a racists Red who hates our freedoms. but also understand a nation is made and lost by its people.

As someone who works with polling data professionally, those demographics look reasonable for self-identified Republicans. The GOP trends somewhat more male, far more "white", older, and more Southern than the population as a whole. The specifics in the R2000 poll look about right, maybe a bit more Southern than I'd expect, but basically right.

What looks about 'right' to me is the country is waking up.... Impeachment is in Obama 's future. PS As Jerry Doyle says, "The only pole I trust is the one with a stripper wrapped around it!"

_those demographics look reasonable_ Yeah, I would say so too. Not terribly unreasonable, anyway. But the point is the results are being used to smear Obama's opponents. To make it seem as if opposition to him from Republicans -- and whomever -- is based on bigotry and/or nutty ideas. Call this the Keith Olbermann take.

Mary is right listen to jerry doyle.

Scott Brown will be sworn in tomorrow...National Holiday!!! Yeeha!!! The end of Camelot...Thank the Lord!

Mary, maybe, mary keep your eyes on him.

I plan to! He is easy on the eyes....But believe you me many,many people are keeping their eyes on him to see that he fulfills his campaign promises...unlike The Liar in Chief He only has two years to prove himself and if he turns we can and will vote him out!