Following repeated warnings voiced in the United Nations and through media outlets, the British rally the support of Spain to create a "coalition of the willing" to oust the administration of President Lyndon B. Johnson, who was seen as directly responsible for not fully supporting legislation to implement a Civil Rights Act, in strict violation of the Magna Carta. Visit http://www.darkmatterpolitics.com for the full story!

POS was responsible for the “Harry and Louise” ad in the early 90’s that scuttled Clinton’s health insurance proposals.

POS doesn't produce television ads. Maybe they focus grouped them?

In 2001, it was charged with violating Virginia’s polling disclosure laws, and it has also been accused of using push polls to influence elections.”

Charged and accused?

So we return to the irony. Despite question wording that seems extreme compared to the other pollsters here, POS got at most a 5 point increase in support for keeping troops in Iraq until the country is stable. And the POS question produced very little difference from the average results for immediate or timed withdrawal. So critics who have jumped on the question wording bandwagon may be right about the wording, but they are substantially wrong about the effect.

One of the most annoying aspects of question wording effects is that sometimes they are large when you don't expect it, and sometimes they are small even when you are sure they should be large.

It is similarly ironic that those who delighted in the POS results were oblivious to the fact that there was not really any new news here. Apparently other pollsters from the "drive-by media" and elsewhere had been reporting substantially the same results for a while now.

Finally, the results of this question are: 49% withdraw immediately or by a deadline, and 50% stay until Iraq is stable. I'd say a 49-50 split isn't a strong indication of overwhelming support for either side. (There are other questions in the survey that address different issues-- some are more supportive of the war and some are less. Towards the high end is "I support finishing the job in Iraq, that is, keeping the troops there until the Iraqi government can maintain control and provide security for its people" 57% agree. But also: "Iraq will never become a stable democracy", 60% agree. Picking which results you like while ignoring the ones you don't may be good politics but it is bad polling analysis.)

An online critique of POS states: "the largest Republican polling firm. POS was responsible for the "Harry and Louise" ad in the early 90's that scuttled Clinton's health insurance proposals. In 2001, it was charged with violating Virginia's polling disclosure laws, and it has also been accused of using push polls to influence elections."

It's not a PR firm. They do polling (mostly) and political strategy. This particular poll was commissioned by a PR firm.

As to bias questions, University of Wisconsin, Madison political scientist Charles Franklin addresses those charges pretty well.

Polling on the Iraq war inevitably become entangled with the politics of the war, with partisans seizing on results that support their preferences. This was vividly demonstrated this week by a Public Opinion Strategies (POS) poll conducted for The......

Greg Sargent seems to've found a Repub pollster who agrees with me, however, so I'll just link him.

I'm sure that, as propaganda, the poll was a great success & just what the client paid for. C'est la guerre, no pun intended.

...

Heckuva straw grasp, guys. Don't think it's gonna work, but I give you Bush dead-enders credit for the sheer tenacity with which you clutch your illusions.

“The total military dead in the Iraq war between 2003 and this month stands at about 3,133. This is tragic, as are all deaths due to war, and we are facing a cowardly enemy unlike any other in our past that hides behind innocent citizens. Each death is blazoned in the headlines of newspapers and Internet sites. What is never compared is the number of military deaths during the Clinton administration: 1,245 in 1993; 1,109 in 1994; 1,055 in 1995; 1,008 in 1996. That's 4,417 deaths in peacetime but, of course, who's counting?”

http://siadapp.dior.whs.mil/personnel/CASUALTY/Death_Rates1.pdf

There are a lot of Americans who favor a defeat in Iraq simply to deal America a bloody "teachable moment" and repudiate a president they don't like. Alas, for the Democrats, such people do not yet constitute an actual majority:......

you morons are amazing!