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SELZER & COMPANY, INC. 1430 Locust St, Ste 105 Des Moines, Iowa 50309-3026 Phone: 515.271.5700 Fax: 515.271.5710 |
Plaudits!
At Selzer & Company, we believe success follows commitment to sound methods and meticulous analysis, coupled with innovative thinking. As public opinion pollsters, our findings are tested on election day. We are either right or wrong. In 2008, we're happy to say, we've been right. Here are some plaudits from the political media.
"Ann Selzer, as you may know, is among the best pollsters in the business."
"No Iowa poll gets (and deserves) more attention than the Des Moines Register poll by ace Iowa pollster Ann Selzer."
"Ann Selzer, braving and enduring the abuse of professional politicians and her polling colleagues, correctly predicted that caucus turnout history would be made, and she was right: Nearly three out of five caucus participants were first-timers, one-fifth were independents and better than one out of five was a young voter. The Iowa Caucuses in 2008, as she had predicted, were no longer the exclusive province of party insiders. Kudos to Ann Selzer!"
"One Poll To Rule Them All: Pundits await the most trusted poll in Iowa.
Rather than gorge on unreliable poll data, do yourself a favor and wait for the new Des Moines Register poll that comes out at the stroke of midnight. The poll, which last had Mike Huckabee and Barack Obama with narrow leads in late November, is likely to serve as the foundation for the conventional wisdom down the stretch. In a Pollster.com survey, fellow pollsters said the Register poll was by far the most reliable when polling the always unreliable caucuses. Expect most of the other poll noise to fade away once this one is unveiled."
"Ann Selzer is considered by many to be the best at surveying the tricky terrain of the Iowa caucuses."
"By now, most hard-core political junkies have heard all about the polling shot heard round the world, last week's stunning success of Ann Selzer and the Des Moines Register Iowa Poll."
"Selzer, this season, has consistently been golden, calling the Iowa caucus flawlessly, which is partly why Selzer & Co. is Silver's top-ranked pollster on FiveThirtyEight."
"Selzer displayed integrity and courage in sticking with her numbers."
"Iowa, site of the first caucuses, is illustrative. One of the few pollsters to get it right was Ann Selzer for the Des Moines Register, who forecast a big Obama victory. This was predicated on a huge turnout, something the other polls and most every politician in the state dismissed. On Jan. 3, 240,000 Democrats came out on a cold night to caucus, almost double the turnout of four years before, and, as Selzer forecast, Obama won a decisive victory."
Iowa's Prescient Pollster: Between the release of her final Iowa caucus poll on Monday and the announcement of results last night, J. Ann Selzer could only wait - and absorb the criticism from aggrieved campaigns. Ms. Selzer's Des Moines firm, Selzer & Co., conducts the Des Moines Register poll, which enjoys high esteem among fellow pollsters for its comparative accuracy in recent presidential caucuses. But this time around, the poll was heavily criticized by the campaigns of Democratic contenders who were predicted also-rans, including Hillary Clinton, John Edwards and Joe Biden. Today Ms. Selzer feels vindicated. "Today I was either going to be golden or a goat," said Ms. Selzer, whose firm has conducted the Register's poll since 1997. "It's better to be golden."
"Here's one lesson from tonight: do not mess with Ann Selzer, the pollster who conducts the Iowa Poll for the Des Moines register. The Edwards camp, the Clinton camp, and various talking heads poo-pooed her projection that 220,000 would turn out tonight. They said it was a fantasy, and that her model included too many independents and first time caucus goers. (To be fair even the Obama folks didn't think it would be that high). Well, with 91.5% of precincts reporting, turnout tonight for the Democrats is 212,000. The woman is good."