John Zogby is the most inventive and perceptive pollster I know. When we see 'Walmart voters, ' 'Investment Class voters, ' and others, we immediately know who they are. Reporters like me rely on his numbers and analysis to answer the simple question, 'Why?' While critics say the sun is setting on polling, In Beyond the Horse Race, Zogby explains why data is more important than ever and taps his 40 years in the business to tell us how best to read it and use it. Like every Zogby Poll, this is a must read!
--Paul Bedard, Washington Secrets columnist for Washington Examiner
This book could not be more timely as another presidential election looms and opinion polls are both devoured and demonised. John Zogby, who has spent decades at this, reminds us that pollsters are human too - creative, fallible, resourceful, proud when they get it right and embarrassed when they don't.
Zogby's book is a fluently written attempt to demystify the art and science of polling and characteristically accessible to the non-expert. He knows that good polls go well beyond the horse race and offers a fascinating insight into why groups such as Weekly Walmart Shoppers, Investor Class, NASCAR Fans and The Creative Class can hold the keys to the White House.
Zogby is a registered Democrat who has polled in 80 countries. From his controversial Zogby Interactive Poll to his insistence that the 2016 election polls were right and the pundits were dead wrong, he is not afraid to rattle cages. He is also disarmingly honest about moments when he got it horribly wrong. With pollsters under scrutiny as never before, this insider's cri du coeur is essential reading.
--David Smith, Washington Bureau Chief, Guardian News and Media
Zogby draws from his vast experience as a pollster to critique the polling industry with professionalism and wit. He tells us how polls are used, abused, misinterpreted, and misapplied. He claims that the polling industry is misunderstood - and he is right. His personal insights into the polling profession help us understand the value of polling and how it promotes our democracy. Zogby takes us on an enjoyable ride into the mysterious art of polling.
--Kenneth Warren, Ph.D., Professor Emeritus, Department of Political Science, Saint Louis University, President, The Warren Poll
Lots of people talk about polls, but few actually understand how they work and how they should be used. John Zogby is a veteran who does, and this clear and compelling explanation should be required reading for anyone who really cares about polling.
--Gerald F. Seib, former executive Washington editor and Capital Journal columnist for The Wall Street Journal
John Zogby is offering us a fascinating tour of the back office of modern polling. We all will be wiser consumers of polls after reading this fascinating book.
--John Hamre, President of the Center for Strategic & International Studies and former Deputy Secretary of Defense
