The Propaganda FilesWaPo Poll Had McAuliffe Up 12 a Week Out; He Won by 2.5
A week before Virginia's 2013 governor's race, a Washington Post poll of likely voters showed Democrat Terry McAuliffe leading Republican Ken Cuccinelli 51% to 39%.
The poll overstated Democratic strength and framed the race as a GOP rout.
What was reported
A week before Virginia's 2013 governor's race, a Washington Post poll of likely voters showed Democrat Terry McAuliffe leading Republican Ken Cuccinelli 51% to 39%.
What actually happened
The poll fed coverage of a Republican collapse. McAuliffe won by about 2.5 points, roughly 48% to 45.5%. Polling averages overall overstated his margin by nearly five points and overestimated the Libertarian candidate.
The proof
Certified results and HuffPost Pollster's post-election analysis of the polling miss.
The receipt. Copy this and paste it anywhere:
WaPo Poll Had McAuliffe Up 12 a Week Out; He Won by 2.5 — Bad Call. Certified results and HuffPost Pollster's post-election analysis of the polling miss. Full file: https://www.thepropagandafiles.com/case/wapo-virginia-poll-mcauliffe-12-2013/
Original reporting
- Washington Examiner (secondary): Virginia poll — McAuliffe 51, Cuccinelli 39https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/news/1384990/virginia-poll-mcauliffe-51-cuccinelli-39/
- Political Wire: Massive gender gap gives McAuliffe a big leadhttps://politicalwire.com/2013/10/28/massive-gender-gap-give-mcauliffe-a-big-lead/
Corrections, findings & records
- HuffPollster: What happened with the polling in Virginia?https://www.huffpost.com/entry/huffpollster-what-happene_n_4228712
- Ballotpedia: Virginia gubernatorial election, 2013https://ballotpedia.org/Virginia_gubernatorial_election,_2013
Archived copies
Stories get edited after publication. These open the Internet Archive's earliest saved copy of each original.
- Archived copy: Washington Examiner (secondary): Virginia poll — McAuliffe 51, Cuccinelli 39https://web.archive.org/web/2/https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/news/1384990/virginia-poll-mcauliffe-51-cuccinelli-39/
- Archived copy: Political Wire: Massive gender gap gives McAuliffe a big leadhttps://web.archive.org/web/2/https://politicalwire.com/2013/10/28/massive-gender-gap-give-mcauliffe-a-big-lead/