Another Polling Mess Lands In Los Angeles
America’s polling problem just found a new address in Los Angeles. According to the Los Angeles Times, via Yahoo News, a poll from Median Strategies claimed Mayor Karen Bass was leading Councilmember Nithya Raman by nearly 12 points ahead of the Nov. 3 mayoral runoff. The survey claimed it was based on 560 Los Angeles voters contacted between July 30 and Aug. 5, with a 4.1% margin of error. That all sounds very official, which is usually the point. But after repeated questions from The Times, the company admitted Monday that the poll was bogus. In other words, the numbers were dressed up like serious political research, but the tuxedo was rented and the check bounced.
The Company Called It A Social Experiment
Median Strategies told The Times that it was created as a short-term social experiment to see how supposed polling information could enter and spread through the political information ecosystem without independent verification. The company also said it was not seeking publicity or attribution for the people involved and declined interviews. That is quite a way to say, “We lit a match and watched where the smoke went.” The fake poll did not just claim Bass had a lead over Raman. It also claimed 16% of respondents had voted for Spencer Pratt, and that about 85% of those voters planned to support Bass in the general election, while about 7% would support Raman.
https://x.com/BillMelugin_/status/2089441067879829943?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw
Polling Influence Is The Real Story
This matters because polls are not just scoreboard numbers for political junkies. They can shape media coverage, fundraising, voter energy, and the story people tell themselves about who is winning. The source article also points to recent polling misses in the Michigan Democrat Senate primary and the Wisconsin Democrat governor primary, where the polls were way off and favored far-left candidates. In this Los Angeles case, the fake numbers favored Bass, described as the establishment candidate, over Raman, who is aligned with the Democratic Socialists of America. Whether the fake poll helped one Democrat over another is not the only issue. The bigger concern is how quickly shiny numbers can move through politics before anyone checks the wiring.
Trust Keeps Taking A Beating
Voters already have plenty of reasons to distrust political polling, and stories like this do not exactly help rebuild confidence. When a company can publish something that looks like a real poll, attach exact dates, sample size, and a margin of error, then later say it was all an experiment, regular Americans are right to ask who is guarding the gate. Conservatives have warned for years that polls can be used to influence public opinion, not just measure it. This episode gives that concern a fresh coat of paint. If the political class wants voters to trust polls again, fake surveys masquerading as data are a strange place to start.
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