Rasmussen

I hadn’t really noticed but apparently Rasmussen has gotten even wingnuttier. One cause:

Robert Stacy McCain, listed as Rasmussen Reports’ managing editor, is hardly discussed at all on its website and social media channels. But he has a long history as a conservative writer, primarily through his blog “The Other McCain.” McCain, a former Washington Times reporter and editor, drew scrutiny in the early days of the blogosphere after the Southern Poverty Law Center reported that he’d been a member of the neo-Confederate organization “League of the South,” which the SPLC designates as a hate group, while he was working for the conservative outlet.

Among other things, McCain has been widely quoted as writing, years ago, “the media now force interracial images into the public mind and a number of perfectly rational people react to these images with an altogether natural revulsion. The white person who does not mind transacting business with a black bank clerk may yet be averse to accepting the clerk as his sister-in-law, and THIS IS NOT RACISM, no matter what Madison Avenue, Hollywood and Washington tell us.”

FWIW Rasmussen gets a “B” grade as a GOP +1.4 pollster in the 538 average, which suggests that there’s still some divide between the political and the professional operations. Nonetheless it’ll be interesting to see how the business model develops moving forward, and whether Rasmussen decides to ditch the professional side entirely. In the meantime, enjoy our long back catalogue of material on the esteemed Mr. McCain!