Are polls misleading Americans?

In several primary elections so far, polling has been wrong. So much so that a candidate in the Wisconsin Democratic primary dropped out because another candidate so high in the polls. The only problem - the ‘clear winner’ lost.

Whether polls mislead American voters has been an active question since 2016, when predictions were that Donald Trump would lose the presidential race.

But as voters look toward the midterms, we ask when they do and don’t help. Does the media oversell them? And do they play too big of a role in shaping political narratives?

Joining Anthony and Sumi to discuss is Stephen Hawkins, the Global Director of Research at More in Common.

HOSTS:• Anthony Zurcher, North America Correspondent• Sumi Somaskanda, BBC Chief Presenter

GUEST:• Stephen Hawkins, Global Director of Research, More in Common

GET IN TOUCH:• Join our online community: https://discord.gg/qSrxqNcmRB• Send us a message or voice note via WhatsApp to +44 330 123 9480• Email [email protected]• Or use #Americast

This episode was made by Chris Flynn, Alix Pickles and Grace Reeve. The technical producer was Ben Andrews. The series producer is Purvee Pattni. The senior news editor is Sam Bonham.

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Insight and analysis on what's happening inside Donald Trump's White House. Americast is the authoritative US news and politics podcast from the BBC. Each week we provide audiences with the best analysis from across the BBC, with on-the-ground observations and big picture insights about the stories which are defining America right now. The podcast is hosted by trusted BBC journalists including the BBC’s North America editor, Sarah Smith, BBC Radio 4 presenter, Justin Webb, the BBC’s disinformation and social media correspondent, Marianna Spring, and BBC North America correspondent, Anthony Zurcher. As well as political analysis, we also specialise in social media. Each week Marianna Spring brings listeners the latest updates from the BBC’s Undercover Voters, our award-winning investigation into the content that is recommended to US voters on social media. The team is also joined by special guests each week, like CNN anchor, Christiane Amanpour, Emmy Award-winning TV host, Rachel Maddow, and Succession actress, J Smith-Cameron. Podcasts are published every Monday, Wednesday and Friday. As well as being a podcast, we are also available every Friday on BBC Radio 4 and every Saturday on the BBC World Service. Oh, and you can now listen to Americast on a smart speaker. If you want to listen, just say ‘”Ask BBC Sounds to play Americast”. It works on most smart speakers. Every Monday we answer your questions on Americanswers, with some help from our friends, including BBC Radio 5 Live's Matt Chorley. Got a question or a comment? Get in touch with us on email at [email protected] or WhatsApp on +44 330 123 9480.

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