Scott Rasmussen Leaves Rasmussen Reports

Well, this is interesting:

For Immediate Release

Asbury Park, NJ, August  22, 2013 – The Rasmussen Reports, LLC Board of Directors today confirmed that founder Scott Rasmussen left the company last month.  In part, the move reflects disagreements over company business strategies.

Mike Boniello, the company’s chief operating officer, will assume a broader leadership role until a replacement for Mr. Rasmussen is named.

The Company emphasized that Mr. Rasmussen’s legacy remains intact.  His polling methodologies and protocols, widely acknowledged as among the most accurate and reliable in the industry, continue to guide and inform the company’s public opinion survey techniques.  In addition, the editorial culture of excellence that he built is still very much in place.

Noson Lawen Partners, the Company’s majority investor, sees tremendous prospects for Rasmussen Reports in an evolving media landscape hungry for original, branded content, and it is committed to supporting the company with the capital, leadership and strategic partnerships necessary to improve and expand the business beyond the fields of politics and public affairs.

The Company will continue to build the company’s polling technologies to address the dynamics of a mobile marketplace.  In addition, it will focus on helping further expand RR products via digital business initiatives.

No word on whether the company will continue to bear Rasmussen’s name in the wake of his departure. As for the rest of the statement, not withstanding the boilerplate in the press release, there have been significant controversy over Rasmussen’s polling methods and his partisan biases during the past several election cycles. In both the 2010 election cycle and the 2012 election cycle, Rasmussen’s polls were criticized by Nate Silver and others for having a significant Republican “house effect,” as well as for being among the least accurate pollsters over the course of both election cycles. Additionally, Rasmussen himself had become such a frequent guest on Fox News Channel that it was hard to tell where the polling firm ended and the political advocate began. It’s possible that the Board saw this as detrimental to the long term interests of the company. It will be interesting to see what the “back story” to all of this is, as well as what impact this actually has on Rasmussen’s polling in the future.

Found via @JDKolassa on Twitter

FILED UNDER: Economics and Business, Public Opinion Polls, US Politics, , ,
Doug Mataconis
About Doug Mataconis
Doug Mataconis held a B.A. in Political Science from Rutgers University and J.D. from George Mason University School of Law. He joined the staff of OTB in May 2010 and contributed a staggering 16,483 posts before his retirement in January 2020. He passed far too young in July 2021.

Comments

  1. Talk amongst yourselves. Here, I’ll give you a topic: Rasmussen Report are neither written by Scott Rasmussen nor are they actually reports.

  2. Surreal American says:

    Hmm, possible job opening for Dean “UnSkewed Polls” Chambers?

  3. mantis says:

    Additionally, Rasmussen himself had become such a frequent guest on Fox News Channel that it was hard to tell where the polling firm ended and the political advocate began.

    Obviously there was no separation between the two. Too bad for Scott that the board is interested in making money.

  4. al-Ameda says:

    This a great career opportunity for Karl Rove.

  5. Surreal American says:

    @al-Ameda:

    Good point: Rasmussen and Rove somewhat resemble each other as well, so Rasmussen won’t be missed.

    Come to think of it, Rove wouldn’t be missed either, but I digress.

  6. Gold Star for Robot Boy says:

    When I read the company’s release, I thought, “This is Rasmussen Reports – better wait for PPP’s confirmation.”

  7. David M says:

    There’s no way to keep the skewed polls going long term. Regular clients aren’t going to want to pay for a product that has credibility issues, and right wingers are eventually going to wise up to the scam.

  8. Ernieyeball says:

    @David M: …and right wingers are eventually going to wise up to the scam.

    Maybe…
    WERE EVANGELICALS PLAYED FOR SUCKERS?
    By Pastor Chuck Baldwin
    Did G.W. Bush and Karl Rove simply dupe the Religious Right? A Bush insider now says that is exactly what happened: GOP strategists played evangelical believers for suckers.
    http://www.newswithviews.com/baldwin/baldwin327.htm

    Religion sometimes used to dupe voters
    By CAL THOMAS
    Not every declared “believer” delivers… Even the “sainted” Ronald Reagan raised taxes, signed an amnesty measure and named two justices to the Supreme Court…who voted to preserve the abortion status quo. And yet to this day, most evangelicals believe Reagan was one of our greatest presidents, though he rarely attended church.
    http://wnewsj.com/main.asp?SectionID=42&SubSectionID=367&ArticleID=191044

  9. Tony W says:

    My favorite quote:

    His polling methodologies and protocols, widely acknowledged as among the most accurate and reliable in the industry…