Who is Scott Rasmussen and Why Do People Listen to Him

Scott Rasmussen was born in 1956. His exposure to broadcasting came as his father, Bill Rasmussen, worked for various radio stations and was also the communications director for the New England Whalers hockey team. (The Whalers later became the Hartford Whalers in the NHL and then moved to Carolina and became the Carolina Hurricane.) Scott had wanted to play minor league hockey, but a knee injury sent him in a different direction; announcing the Whaler's games on a cable television station.

His work on the cable station attracted the attention of Getty Oil and, at only 23, Scott, along with his father, founded ESPN in 1979. They and eleven other investors sold their stake in the sports network to Texaco in 1984. (Who later sold it to ABC for a whopping $237 million.)

In 1986, he received a Bachelor's Degree in history from DePauw University, and then an executive MBA from Wake Forest. While studying at DePauw, Scott wrote the book "Solving the Budget Crisis: Hope for America's Future". It was not a rave review best seller, but it did start funneling his journey toward his present career. An article in AllBusiness states that he "got out of sports to be a poll vaulter." A play on words, but quite accurate.

In 1986, he moved to Charlotte, where he split his time as a public speaker and a pollster, the latter being done mostly for free. He worked with his father again, who was working for TV syndicator RCM.

In 1995, he started Grass Roots Research, a for profit polling company. At that time, he also publisehd a newsletter, Portrait of America, and discussed his poll findings with local radio host Jim Bohannon on The Week In Review Show. In 1999, his company Rasmussen Research was bought by TownPagesNet.com for a hefty sum in ordinary shares.

Today, Scott Rasmussen is the pubisher and president of Rasmussen Reports. He has described himself as an independent pollster for more than a decade. Like the company he started, Scott maintains his independence and has never been a campaign pollster or consultant for candidates seeking office.

Fordham University found that Rasmussen was the most accurate poll in the 2008 Presidential elections, predicting the totals to within half a percentage point of the actual totals. According to the Wall Street Journal and other sources, Rasmussen Reports was one of the most accurate polling firms for both the 2004 Presidential elections and the 2006 mid-term elections. Most all the major networks use the tracking polls Scott has a personal hand in developing from data his company gathers.

Michael Barone, a senior writer for U.S. News & World Report , has called Rasmussen "one of America's most innovative pollsters".

Aside from his work as a world renowned pollster, Scott Rasmussen, an Evangelical Christian, is currently serving as the president of the Ocean Grove Camp Meeting Association, an organization founded in 1869 that provides opportunities for growth, rebirth and spiritual renewal.

Both personally and professionally, Scott has manitained a reputation of determination, innovation and independence. He is gradually gaining ground as one of the most influential pollsters since the days of the "Dewey Defeats Truman" front page blunders shone a light on them.

Douglas E. Schoen, a pollster for President William J. Clinton, says "Rasmussen Reports is one of America's most insightful and analytical sources of data and analysis on U.S. public opinion. They are fearlessly independent, always ahead of the curve, and offer unique insights unavailable anywhere else. I rely on them to keep me informed about what is happening today and is likely to happen tomorrow."

It is easy to see why many people look to see what comes out of the data Scott and his company gather. And in some regards, the polls he reports on give credence to things some in power might not want aired in public. Done properly, polls can shed light on misinformation politicians would like the public to believe. But, as Scott himself has pointed out on numerous occasions (such as his recent appearance on the Sean Hannity show), polls never take the place of a person's own right to decide. They merely serve to show what the country as a whole is feeling. In this regard, Scott's determined independence serves the public interest quite well.

Sources:
Rasmussen Reports
http://www.rasmussenreports.com/public_content/about_us

AllBusiness
http://www.allbusiness.com/marketing/market-research/597741-1.html

Scott Rasmussen - Wikipedia
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scott_Rasmussen