Pollsters struggle to explain discrepancies

0 Comments | USA TODAY, January, 2008 | by Ken Dilanian

A day after Hillary Rodham Clinton's surprise victory in the New Hampshire primary, the country's leading political pollsters found themselves trying to explain how and why they got it so spectacularly wrong.

Although most pre-election voter surveys accurately predicted Republican John McCain's win, most had Barack Obama crushing Clinton in the Democratic race. The average spread was 8.3 percentage points, according to the RealClearPolitics website. A USA TODAY/Gallup Poll published Monday had Obama leading by 13 points.

Even early surveys of people after they voted had Obama winning by 5 points. But when the votes were counted Tuesday night, Clinton won with 39% to Obama's 36%.

Pollsters came forth Wednesday with explanations that were part mea...

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