Zogby Troop Poll: Full Results Posted & the Hewitt Interview

Legacy blog posts Polls in the News

Several readers have asked whether Zogby had released the full text of the survey questions and full results.  MP asked for and received the full text earlier today and was planning to post it this evening, but then discovered that both have already been posted online earlier today by RadioBlogger.

Radio bloggger also has both a transcript and streaming audio of John Zogby’s contentious interview earlier today with conservative talk show host Hugh Hewitt.   In the interview, Hewitt pressed Zogby for more information about the firm that hired the field workers who conducted the survey in Iraq, leading to this exchange:

JZ: Information International…is Beirut-based, and it has offices throughout the Middle East.

HH: So did they use an Iraqi national or someone
else to oversee the poll?

JZ: Hugh, do you suppose that an Iraqi national
would be allowed to poll U.S. servicemen?

HH: I’m asking you. So the answer is no?

JZ: The answer is no.

HH: So why is there a security concern in telling
me who the Lebanese gentleman is who oversaw the work in Iraq?

JZ: Because that’s something that I won’t discuss,
because it comes under the provision that it’s not something that
you need to know.

HH: It would go to the credibility of the poll,
wouldn’t it, John?

JZ: Oh, it would not. No, no, no, I have given
to reporters that I trust, I have given all of the details off
the record. A radio talk show is not off the record, Hugh.

For those who have been following this story, it is worth reading (and listening to) in full.  See also Hewitt’s own blog post on the interview.

[Typo corrected]

Mark Blumenthal

Mark Blumenthal is political pollster with deep and varied experience across survey research, campaigns, and media. The original "Mystery Pollster" and co-creator of Pollster.com, he explains complex concepts to a multitude of audiences and how data informs politics and decision-making. A researcher and consultant who crafts effective questions and identifies innovative solutions to deliver results. An award winning political journalist who brings insights and crafts compelling narratives from chaotic data.