Scott William Rasmussen (born March 30, 1956) is an American public opinion pollster and political analyst. He previously produced the ScottRasmussen.com Daily Tracking Poll, a gauge of American voters' political sentiment. He is editor-at-large for

Ballotpedia Ballotpedia is a nonprofit and nonpartisan online political encyclopedia that covers federal, state, and local politics, elections, and public policy in the United States. The website was founded in 2007. Ballotpedia is sponsored by the Lucy Bur ...

, where he writes the Number of the Day Feature, and is a host for the podcast entitled "Just the Polls," a podcast series from Just the News. Rasmussen was the founder of Rasmussen Reports, where he served as pollster and president for 10 years until leaving the company in 2013. Earlier in his professional life, Rasmussen co-founded the sports network

ESPN ESPN (originally an initialism for Entertainment and Sports Programming Network) is an American international basic cable sports channel owned by ESPN Inc., owned jointly by The Walt Disney Company (80%) and Hearst Communications (20%). The ...

. After leaving Rasmussen Reports, Rasmussen founded Rasmussen Media Group, working as a political analyst, author, public speaker and columnist. Rasmussen is a ''New York Times'' bestselling author and speaker, and he writes a weekly column for the ''

Deseret News The ''Deseret News'' () is the oldest continuously operating publication in the American west. Its multi-platform products feature journalism and commentary across the fields of politics, culture, family life, faith, sports, and entertainment. Th ...

''. His most recent book publication is entitled ''The Sun is Still Rising: Politics Has Failed But America Will Not'' and was released in 2018.

Early life and education

Rasmussen was born on

Eglin Air Force Base Eglin Air Force Base is a United States Air Force (USAF) base in the western Florida Panhandle, located about southwest of Valparaiso in Okaloosa County. The host unit at Eglin is the 96th Test Wing (formerly the 96th Air Base Wing). The 9 ...

near

Valparaiso, Florida Valparaiso is a city in Okaloosa County, Florida, United States. As of the 2010 census, the city population was 5,036. According to the U.S. Census Bureau's 2018 estimates, the city had a population of 5,195. It is part of the Fort Walton Beach& ...

to Lois Ann and

Bill Rasmussen William F. Rasmussen (born October 15, 1932) is an American sports director, and one of the founders of ESPN, along with Scott Rasmussen and Ed Eagan. Rasmussen served as the first president and CEO of ESPN. ESPN was founded on July 14, 1978, an ...

. Scott's father was from Chicago, Illinois and attended

DePauw University DePauw University is a private liberal arts university in Greencastle, Indiana. It has an enrollment of 1,972 students. The school has a Methodist heritage and was originally known as Indiana Asbury University. DePauw is a member of both the ...

in Indiana, where he met Scott's mother. From an early age, Rasmussen was exposed to the broadcasting business through his father, who had worked for radio stations and was a communications director for the

New England Whalers New is an adjective referring to something recently made, discovered, or created. New or NEW may refer to: Music * New, singer of K-pop group The Boyz Albums and EPs * ''New'' (album), by Paul McCartney, 2013 * ''New'' (EP), by Regurgitator ...

ice hockey team. With the help of his father, Rasmussen taped his first radio commercial at the age of seven. Rasmussen grew up spending summers in

Ocean Grove, New Jersey Ocean Grove is a unincorporated community and census-designated place (CDP) located within Neptune Township, Monmouth County, New Jersey, United States. He got his first job at age 14 as an umbrella boy. He later served as an announcer for the New England Whalers of the World Hockey Association. Rasmussen's childhood idol was hockey legend

Gordie Howe Gordon Howe (March 31, 1928 – June 10, 2016) was a Canadian professional ice hockey player. From 1946 to 1980, he played 26 seasons in the National Hockey League (NHL) and six seasons in the World Hockey Association (WHA); his first 25 seaso ...

. Around that time he was emcee for Howe's 50th birthday celebration in 1978, which Rasmussen cites as a highlight of his life: "nothing in my professional career will ever equal the thrill of celebrating isbirthday." Rasmussen graduated from

Minnechaug Regional High School Minnechaug Regional High School (MRHS) is a public high school located in Wilbraham, Massachusetts, United States, and has a student population of approximately 1,200. It is the only high school in the Hampden-Wilbraham Regional School District ...

in 1974 and was goaltender for the high school hockey team. He started college at the

University of Connecticut The University of Connecticut (UConn) is a public land-grant research university in Storrs, Connecticut, a village in the town of Mansfield. The primary 4,400-acre (17.8 km2) campus is in Storrs, approximately a half hour's drive from H ...

, taking a class from professor Everett Ladd, a pollster and political scientist. Rasmussen earned a bachelor's degree in history at his father's alma mater,

in Greencastle, Indiana, graduating in 1986, and later an executive MBA from the

Babcock Graduate School of Management The Wake Forest University School of Business is the graduate business school of Wake Forest University in Winston-Salem, North Carolina. It offers undergraduate program, management-related masters programs, and executive education programs. ...

Wake Forest University Wake Forest University is a private research university in Winston-Salem, North Carolina. Founded in 1834, the university received its name from its original location in Wake Forest, north of Raleigh, North Carolina. The Reynolda Campus, the un ...

Career

ESPN

In 1978, Rasmussen partnered with his father, Bill, to form an exclusively sports-devoted 24-hour cable television network. The network was initially named "Entertainment and Sports Programming Network," but was changed to "

" to shorten its length."Sports' Junkies Rejoice:The Birth of ESPN", Bill Rasmussen; QV Publishing, inc., Hartsdale, New York (November 1983) Five years later, the Rasmussen's ownership stake in ESPN was bought out by

Texaco Texaco, Inc. ("The Texas Company") is an American oil brand owned and operated by Chevron Corporation. Its flagship product is its fuel "Texaco with Techron". It also owned the Havoline motor oil brand. Texaco was an independent company unt ...

, who thereafter sold ESPN to ABC for $237 million.He got out of sports to be a poll vaulter
Business North Carolina, October 1, 1996 They went on to found the Enterprise Radio Network. Rasmussen and his father later had a falling out over what Rasmussen called unspecified "differences."

Polling

Rasmussen first became known for his public opinion polling work. In the 1990s, he volunteered as a pollster for friends who were attempting to impose congressional

term limit A term limit is a legal restriction that limits the number of terms an officeholder may serve in a particular elected office. When term limits are found in presidential and semi-presidential systems they act as a method of curbing the potenti ...

s. In 1995, he founded a polling company called GrassRoots Research. In 1999, after changing the name to Rasmussen Research, the company was bought by TownPagesNet.com for about $4.5 million in ordinary shares.

Rasmussen Reports

In 2003, Rasmussen founded Rasmussen Reports, LLC, a U.S.-based public opinion polling company, to track consumer confidence, investor confidence, and presidential approval. Rasmussen Reports has been called "one of the most consistently interesting polling and analytics companies," generating a daily cycle of news reports based on original survey results as well as political, business, economic and lifestyle content. Unlike traditional pollsters whose polls are often influenced by partisanship, the company's business model relies on website advertising and paid subscriptions for premium content. Rasmussen Reports' polls are notable for their use of automated public opinion polling, involving pre-recorded telephone inquiries, which have been shown to produce accurate results at low cost.Use of Likely Voter Model Does Not Explain Rasmussen "House Effect"
by Nate Silver, FiveThirtyEight.com, April 17, 2010 In 2009, Noson Lawen Partners provided a significant investment in Rasmussen Reports to help expand its daily, automated tracking polls, noting the "rock solid credibility and market-leading accuracy of the Rasmussen Reports product suite." In 2010, Rasmussen Reports was one of two firms providing daily tracking updates of the president's job approval ratings as well as consumer confidence. By 2012, Rasmussen Reports had garnered a national reputation for providing "reliable, newsworthy and actionable public opinion data," receiving over one million visits per day during the presidential election that year. In July 2013, Rasmussen left his position as president of Rasmussen Reports following disagreements with investors over business strategies. In a press release from Rasmussen Reports, the company confirmed Rasmussen's departure and said, " part, the move reflects disagreements over company business strategies .... 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." The ''

Washington Post ''The Washington Post'' (also known as the ''Post'' and, informally, ''WaPo'') is an American daily newspaper published in Washington, D.C. It is the most widely circulated newspaper within the Washington metropolitan area and has a large na ...

'' referred to Rasmussen as "a driving force in American politics" and "an articulate and frequent guest on Fox News and other outlets, where his nominally nonpartisan data is often cited to support Republican talking points." In the ''

Wall Street Journal ''The Wall Street Journal'' is an American business-focused, international daily newspaper based in New York City, with international editions also available in Chinese and Japanese. The ''Journal'', along with its Asian editions, is published ...

'', political journalist

John Fund John H. Fund (born April 8, 1957) is an American political journalist. He is currently the national-affairs reporter for National Review Online and a senior editor at ''The American Spectator''. Life and career Fund was born in Tucson, Arizona. ...

called him "America's insurgent pollster".

Susan Estrich Susan Estrich (born December 16, 1952) is an American lawyer, professor, author, political operative, and political commentator. She is known for serving as the campaign manager for Michael Dukakis in 1988 (being the first woman to manage the pr ...

, the first female campaign manager of a major presidential campaign, said of him, "If you really want to know what people in America think, you can't find a smarter guy to ask than Scott Rasmussen." Rasmussen has described himself as "an independent pollster" who " ke the company he started, ..maintains his independence and has never been a campaign pollster or consultant for candidates seeking office." Speaking about the use of his polling data by Republicans, in 2009 Rasmussen said, "Republicans right now are citing our polls more than Democrats because it’s in their interest to do so. I would not consider myself a political conservative — that implies an alignment with Washington politics that I don’t think I have."David Weigel
Rasmussen, the Only Poll that Matters

The Washington Independent The American Independent Institute is a nonprofit organization which funds liberal investigative journalism efforts. According to the organization, its aim is to support journalism which exposes "the nexus of conservative power in Washington." The ...

, 18 February 2009 In 2010, some Democrats criticized Rasmussen's polling methodology. Democratic pollster Mark Mellman said Rasmussen Reports polls "tend to be among the worst polls for Democrats." Tom Jensen, a pollster for Democratic firm

Public Policy Polling Public Policy Polling (PPP) is an American polling firm affiliated with the Democratic Party. Founded in 2001 by businessman Dean Debnam, the firm is based in Raleigh, North Carolina. Debnam currently serves as president and CEO of PPP, while T ...

said: "The way asmussendoes polls is that he's more likely to get high-energy voters. I think Rasmussen favors Republicans this year, but I don't think he inherently favors Republicans."

Rasmussen Media Group

After his departure from Rasmussen Reports in 2013, Rasmussen announced the creation of Rasmussen Media Group to "develop and invest in digital media opportunities." Rasmussen Media Group said that the "new venture reflects a transition from Rasmussen's role as a scorekeeper in the nation's political dialogue to becoming a more active participant," especially in critiquing "

crony capitalism Crony capitalism, sometimes called cronyism, is an economic system in which businesses thrive not as a result of free enterprise, but rather as a return on money amassed through collusion between a business class and the political class. This i ...

and the unholy alliance between big government and big business."

ScottRasmussen.com

In August 2018, Rasmussen released his new public opinion website, ScottRasmussen.com. The website debuted in conjunction with the announcement of a partnership between ScottRasmussen.com and HarrisX, an online research company under The Stagwell Group, which was founded by former pollster and adviser to

President Bill Clinton William Jefferson Clinton (né Blythe III; born August 19, 1946) is an American politician who served as the 42nd president of the United States from 1993 to 2001. He previously served as governor of Arkansas from 1979 to 1981 and again f ...

Mark Penn Mark J. Penn (born January 15, 1954) is an American businessman, pollster, political strategist, and author. Penn is chairman and chief executive officer of Stagwell, a marketing group created upon the merger of Stagwell Marketing Group—a priva ...

. Beyond polling and analysis regarding approval ratings and congressional races, the venture also focuses on public sentiment and awareness of other issues, such as socialism and immigration. According to an August 2018 press release, ScottRasmussen.com and HarrisX produce a Daily Tracking Poll that seeks to "zero in on foundational public attitudes rather than the partisan politics that frequently define Washington discourse." Since the launch, Rasmussen and ScottRasmussen.com have been cited for their polling insights by ''Newsweek'', ''The Wall Street Journal'', and ''The Hill'', among others.

Styrk.com

In 2014, Rasmussen launched Styrk.com, a digital news service which functioned as a multi-channel news platform and social network. Former Miss America

Kirsten Haglund Kirsten Iora Müller-Daubermann (née Haglund; born September 14, 1988) is a public speaker, eating disorder awareness activist, commentator, and president of the Kirsten Haglund Foundation. She served as Miss America 2008. Education At age 12, H ...

served as Styrk.com's lead anchor. Styrk.com's tagline was "news in the language of everyday Americans." Styrk.com ceased operations on March 16, 2016.

Works

Books

In 2010, Rasmussen co-authored a book with pollster Douglas Schoen, ''Mad as Hell: How the Tea Party Movement is Fundamentally Remaking Our Two-Party System,'' explaining the causes of

Tea Party movement The Tea Party movement was an American fiscally conservative political movement within the Republican Party that began in 2009. Members of the movement called for lower taxes and for a reduction of the national debt and federal budget def ...

's frustrations, namely excessive federal spending, high taxes, and a failure of politicians in Washington to listening to the people. In his 2010 book titled ''In Search of Self-Governance'', Rasmussen argued that Americans would rather govern themselves rather than being governed from the left, the right, or even center and this desire for self-governance is under assault by elites in Washington, D.C. and Wall Street." Rasmussen's 2012 book, "The People's Money: How Voters Will Balance the Budget and Eliminate the Federal Debt," argues through polling data, that the federal government does not have the

consent of the governed In political philosophy, the phrase consent of the governed refers to the idea that a government's legitimacy and moral right to use state power is justified and lawful only when consented to by the people or society over which that political pow ...

. The book reached number 17 on the New York Times Bestseller List in March 2012. In 2018, Rasmussen authored a book entitled ''The Sun is Still Rising:'' ''Politics Has Failed But America Will Not''. While expressing a general sense of pessimism as to the political process in America, Rasmussen makes a case for the "legitimacy" of optimism in the virtual and psychical communities outside of Washington, D.C. that allow the talents of individuals flourish.

Jonathan Rauch Jonathan Charles Rauch (; born April 26, 1960) is an American author, journalist, and activist. After graduating from Yale University, Rauch worked at the ''Winston-Salem Journal'' in North Carolina, for ''National Journal'', and later for ''The ...

, senior fellow at the

Brookings Institution The Brookings Institution, often stylized as simply Brookings, is an American research group founded in 1916. Located on Think Tank Row in Washington, D.C., the organization conducts research and education in the social sciences, primarily in e ...

, said of the book: "in this optimistic, open-hearted book, Scott Rasmussen delivers a spirited and timely reminder that civic groups, innovative businesses, and personal networks are where the real action will be in the 21st century—and that their potential to improve our lives and our country is vast."

Columns

Rasmussen's work has appeared in ''

USA Today ''USA Today'' (stylized in all uppercase) is an American daily middle-market newspaper and news broadcasting company. Founded by Al Neuharth on September 15, 1982, the newspaper operates from Gannett's corporate headquarters in Tysons, Virgini ...

'', ''

The Washington Post ''The Washington Post'' (also known as the ''Post'' and, informally, ''WaPo'') is an American daily newspaper published in Washington, D.C. It is the most widely circulated newspaper within the Washington metropolitan area and has a large n ...

'', ''

The Los Angeles Times ''The'' () is a grammatical article in English, denoting persons or things already mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in English. ''The'' is the ...

'', ''

The Boston Globe ''The Boston Globe'' is an American daily newspaper founded and based in Boston, Massachusetts. The newspaper has won a total of 27 Pulitzer Prizes, and has a total circulation of close to 300,000 print and digital subscribers. ''The Boston Glob ...

'', ''

Investor's Business Daily ''Investor's Business Daily'' (''IBD'') is an American newspaper and website covering the stock market, international business, finance and economics. Founded in 1984 by William O'Neil as a print news publication, it is owned by News Corp and is ...

'', the ''

Christian Science Monitor Christians () are people who follow or adhere to Christianity, a monotheistic Abrahamic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus Christ. The words ''Christ'' and ''Christian'' derive from the Koine Greek title ''Christós'' (Χρισ ...

'' and other major publications. Rasmussen also writes a weekly syndicated newspaper column through

Creators Syndicate Creators Syndicate (also known as Creators) is an American independent distributor of comic strips and syndicated columns to daily newspapers, websites, and other digital outlets. When founded in 1987, Creators Syndicate became one of the few suc ...

and gives daily syndicated news updates through

WOR Radio Network The WOR Radio Network was a slate of nationally syndicated radio programming produced and distributed by flagship radio station WOR in New York City. The programming was primarily general interest commercial talk; only one non-talk program had ev ...

. Rasmussen's columns incorporate public opinion polling data and public policy issues. He is also regularly quoted in print and online publications, including ''

'', ''

The Wall Street Journal ''The Wall Street Journal'' is an American business-focused, international daily newspaper based in New York City, with international editions also available in Chinese and Japanese. The ''Journal'', along with its Asian editions, is published ...

'', and ''

''. Rasmussen has independently authored several ''Wall Street Journal'' columns, including a piece on how Obama won the White House by campaigning like

Ronald Reagan Ronald Wilson Reagan ( ; February 6, 1911June 5, 2004) was an American politician, actor, and union leader who served as the 40th president of the United States from 1981 to 1989. He also served as the 33rd governor of California from 1967 ...

and an overview of the healthcare reform debate.

Television

In 2010 he made an appearance on Comedy Central's

The Colbert Report ''The Colbert Report'' ( ) is an American late-night talk and news satire television program hosted by Stephen Colbert that aired four days a week on Comedy Central from October 17, 2005, to December 18, 2014, for 1,447 episodes. The show fo ...

. From 2012 through 2013, Rasmussen hosted a syndicated television show called ''

What America Thinks With Scott Rasmussen ''What America Thinks'' is a syndicated American television show. It was hosted by opinion pollster and political commentator Scott Rasmussen Scott William Rasmussen (born March 30, 1956) is an American public opinion pollster and political a ...

'' with

WCBS-TV WCBS-TV (channel 2) is a television station in New York City, serving as the flagship of the CBS network. It is owned and operated by the network's CBS News and Stations division alongside Riverhead, New York–licensed independent station W ...

. An episode of the show titled ''What New Hampshire Thinks'' won a 2012 Granite Mike Award from the New Hampshire Association of Broadcasters. In February 2018, Rasmussen participated as a panelist in a televised discussion moderated by former Hewlett-Packard Chairman and CEO Carly Fiorina, discussing the implications and impact of the recently enacted tax reform package.

Radio

In April 2012,

began syndicating three different one-minute daily news updates by Rasmussen.

Personal life

Rasmussen lives in

Florida Florida is a state located in the Southeastern region of the United States. Florida is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the northwest by Alabama, to the north by Georgia, to the east by the Bahamas and Atlantic Ocean, and ...

with his wife, Laura. He has a son, Phillip "PJ," who is an accomplished jazz guitarist in the New Jersey and New York City areas. Speaking about his political views, Rasmussen said, "I was brought up loosely as a Republican, but at our family dinner table we talked about the important politics of the New York Giants and the New York Yankees. There was no political discussion in my life growing up. I became a Democrat after Richard Nixon and into the Jimmy Carter era and have been an Independent ever since. I spoke today about how the American people were skeptical about politicians—well, I'm more skeptical. I really do see the core issue as the political class versus mainstream voters. I think that is a much bigger gap than Republican, Democrat, conservative, or liberal." In March 2010, Rasmussen's home was destroyed by a fire. Rasmussen noted thereafter that his local community—the "local government, our insurance company, our church, local businesses, our neighbors and the kindness of strangers"—were instrumental in the recovery process. Rasmussen also cited this experience as an inspiration for the "upbeat message" in his book, ''Politics Has Failed: America Will Not''. From 2006–2011, Rasmussen served as volunteer president of the Ocean Grove Camp Meeting Association (OGCMA), "a ministry organization whose mission is to provide opportunities for spiritual birth, growth, and renewal in a Christian seaside setting." OGCMA is affiliated with the

United Methodist Church The United Methodist Church (UMC) is a worldwide mainline Protestant denomination based in the United States, and a major part of Methodism. In the 19th century, its main predecessor, the Methodist Episcopal Church, was a leader in evangelica ...

Bibliography

* ''Politics Has Failed: America Will Not''. Sutherland Institute. 2017. . * * * (with Doug Schoen) * *

References

External links

*
Biography at Ballotpedia
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Rasmussen, Scott Living people 1956 births Place of birth missing (living people) American people of Danish descent University of Connecticut alumni Wake Forest University alumni DePauw University alumni American television executives ESPN executives Pollsters American political writers American male non-fiction writers People from Valparaiso, Florida American United Methodists