A veteran GOP strategist believes pollsters have been getting it "wrong" in the final days leading up to the 2024 presidential election by overlooking a "massive shift" in voter registration since the last election, which he believes favors former President Donald Trump.
Alex Castellanos, who previously worked on campaigns for Republicans Jeb Bush and Mitt Romney, claimed that polls showing a slim margin between Trump and Vice President Kamala Harris are overlooking a "wavelet out there of Republican enthusiasm" during an appearance on FOX News' Special Report Sunday (November 3).
âWhat I think theyâre missing is a massive shift in voter registration underneath all of this. Thirty-one states have voter registration by party. Thirty of them in the past four years have seen movement toward Republicans,â Castellanos said. âI think thereâs, Iâm not going to call it a wave, but I think thereâs a wavelet out there of Republican enthusiasm and registration. If I register to vote Republican, whether Iâm switching or new, what am I going to do?â
âI think the pollsters are getting this wrong. Weâre all missing something, because theyâre giving us the same poll over and over again. There isnât even statistical variation,â he added. âItâs like theyâre telling us weâre watching a basketball game where every playâs a jump ball.â
Several battleground state polls show Trump and Harris within the margin of error in the final days leading up to the election. Last week, Famed polling expert Nate Silver of FiveThirtyEight claimed irresponsible pollsters were "herding" their numbers, or recycling past results to affect current ones, in order to make it seem like the two candidates were within a point or two margin.
âI kind of trust pollsters less,â Silver said on his podcast, specifically naming Emerson College as an example.
âThey all, every time a pollster [says] âOh, every state is just plus-one, every single stateâs a tie,â no! Youâre f**king herding! Youâre cheating! Youâre cheating!â he added.
âYour numbers arenât all going to come out at exactly one-point leads when youâre sampling 800 people over dozens of surveys,â Silver continued. âYou are lying! Youâre putting your f**king finger on the scale!'â
Use this site to find your local polling place.