Don’t say we didn’t previously predict this EXACT SCENARIO was coming as soon as the Clinton Convention was over.

:::YAWN:::

After Reuters polling showed a 17 point (two week) swing to benefit Donald Trump something urgently needed to be changed.

(Via Reuters) […] In a presidential campaign notable for its negativity, the option of “Neither” candidate appears to be an appealing alternative, at least to participants in the Reuters/Ipsos opinion poll.

Many voters on both sides have been ambivalent in their support for Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton and Republican nominee Donald Trump, complicating the task of the pollsters trying to track the race.

That sentiment may help explain an apparent skew that recently emerged in the Reuters/Ipsos poll results. Given the choice, a relatively large group of voters opted for “Neither/Other” candidate compared with other major polls, leading to an under reporting of several percentage points for one or other of the two major contenders at times in the race.

As a result, Reuters/Ipsos is amending the wording of the choice and eliminating the word “Neither,” bringing the option in line with other polls.

The amended Reuters/Ipsos tracking poll will be published later Friday, available at polling.reuters.com.

From the beginning of June until the middle of July, the Reuters/Ipsos survey showed consistently lower support for Trump than other polls were capturing. At times, the Reuters/Ipsos poll showed Clinton with a lead over Trump as wide as about 12 percentage points among registered voters – five percentage points higher than Clinton’s lead in some other comparable polls.

[…] During the period analyzed, the historically high antipathy for both major candidates, paired with the option of selecting “Neither/Other,” meant the Reuters/Ipsos poll probably under reported Trump’s support before the Republican convention, perhaps by 3 to 5 percentage points.

So why the need to switch and correct now?.. Well, as Reuters openly admits, they need to help Hillary Clinton:

[…] More recently, the “Neither/Other” option appeared to lead to an under reporting of Clinton’s support in the run-up to the Democratic convention, said Cliff Young, pollster and president of Ipsos Public Affairs, which partners with Reuters on the poll. The pollsters estimated the Clinton shortfall at 2 to 4 percentage points.

Tom W. Smith, director of the Center for the Study of Politics and Society at the University of Chicago, said the earlier Trump numbers in the Reuters/Ipsos poll could have indicated a softness of support for Trump among a relatively small group of conservative voters who had yet to come to terms with his candidacy.

It is plausible that a similar effect among Democratic voters may be hitting Clinton now when presented with the option of “Neither,” he said. [snip]

Since the convention, however, Trump’s support seems to have solidified among wary supporters. Now, the “Neither” issue appears to be affecting Clinton in the survey. (read more)

Oh, OK… Gotcha. The problem was OK before – because it was making Donald Trump’s polled support look bad. However, now that the issue has the potential to make Hillary Clinton’s polling bad, now,… NOW it needs to be fixed.

Hey, look on the bright side; at least Reuters is honest about their dishonesty….

Methinks they deserve the Triple Penguin Award !