Kellyanne Conway rips ‘phony national polls’: They were not scientific, they were wishful thinking
Former Trump campaign manager Kellyanne Conway is pointing out what most of America understands all too well… that the pollsters and pundits got the 2020 presidential election massively wrong. She appeared on Fox & Friends to lay out exactly where they all missed the boat on Trump’s appeal to the masses in this election.
“This is a rebuke of the elites and the establishment, telling people how to think, what to do, and what your value is as a human being based on your vote,” Conway stated. “But wishful thinking doesn’t win. The people spoke again. Let’s see what happens.”
Kellyanne Conway made history when she became the first woman to successfully manage a US presidential campaign. She is no longer in that position, but she nailed the media once again for failing to predict the election after they were shocked by Trump’s victory in 2016.
“Instead, all these phony, national polls were shoved down our throats,” she noted. “There was no blue wave. There was no early night. There was no Democratic progressive realignment.”
“In fact, the Democratic down-ballot disasters carried all the way to the state legislatures as well. The Democrats did not flip a single state legislature and in fact, the Republicans flipped the house and the senate, for example, in a place like New Hampshire, where they have a Republican governor. So that’s solid now,” Conway, former counselor to the president, said. She made it abundantly clear just how wrong the pollsters and pundits got it once again and that they are basically irrelevant in elections.
Conway stated that Republican gains were given to them by women, minorities, and/or veterans whereas Democrats spent big money to buy votes in those categories. It didn’t work and they lost in key races such as the ones against Sen. Mitch McConnell (R-KY) and Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC). Republicans also gained a number of seats in the House of Representatives which came as a huge shock to Democrats.
.@GOP gained ground among minorities. Increased outreach, especially at convention. GOP's economic opportunity a plus w/ minority entrepreneurs & workers as Democrats stood for government lockdowns and handouts. Immigrants who fled socialism oppose it here https://t.co/SPG2Sbplat
— Kellyanne Conway (@KellyannePolls) November 5, 2020
She also noted that the Republican message was what won the day and the media and pollsters simply ignored that fact.
“You know when I took over as campaign manager in 2016, we did zero … national polls from that point forward. They’re not relevant. They tell you trends but they don’t dig into the electoral college map. Electability, I can tell you whether you can or can’t win, I can tell you is outdated. That’s why Republicans lost the presidential races for years. Electoral College is how you do or don’t win,” she said.
Sen. Susan Collins (R-ME) won on Wednesday after her opponent conceded. She did not win a single poll in the state, but she won the race by close to nine points, Conway pointed out.
“Where is the consequence?” Conway said. “The Trump agenda won up and down the ballot. We’re holding the Senate. We picked up in the House, the state legislatures, Pelosi’s got a big problem because the Squad that doesn’t do squat except be famous for being famous … It was a real rebuke.”
Conway pointed out that none of the pollsters or pundits who wrongly predicted the 2016 election lost their jobs and she predicted the same will happen in 2020. However, according to public opinion, their influence is declining even more rapidly.
“Nobody cares and nobody wants to cure this problem,” Conway said. “The polls were not scientific evidence … they’re wishful thinking.”
Conway said she is concerned that members of the media and pollsters didn’t spend the last four years figuring out what motivates Trump supporters.
“I think we should be exposing some of the people in charge of this who have a history of being wildly anti-Trump,” she concluded.
