What is "internal polling"?

[gateley]

Both sides cite their internal polling frequently. Where do they get the info? What makes it different from the national polling? Thanks!

[WI_DEM]

1. private campaign polls--not public, unless they decide to release them.

[gateley]

2. Meaning they're basing opinions on the amount of campaign contributions?

I'm really trying to understand -- honest!

[Barack_America]

5. No, meaning they are paying the polling agencies for data released to just them.

[gateley]

8. Oh -- interesting! Thanks!

[kennetha]

3. Check out my post on the difference between public polls and private polls.

[link:http://www.democraticunderground.com/10021622131|

[gateley]

9. Thank you! That explained a lot!

[RomneyLies]

4. Campaigns pay big money for private polling.

Those are internal polls. Each poll typically costs considerably more than the public polls we see, that are usually commissioned by educational institutions of media outlets, and are typically much more accurate (smaller margins of error).

[CJCRANE]

6. I assume it's just polling where the results are not released to the public. nt

[Recursion]

7. Polls the campaigns pay for

The campaigns pay private polling firms a lot to run polls. These polls generally have lower margins of error in a statistical sense, but their models can reflect campaigns' biases. (margin of error is calculated relative to the poll's model.)

[rock]

10. This is how I've had it explained

1) If you don't know what the situation really is but want to know, have a private (internal) poll - make sure the pollster doesn't know what you want the results to be!
2) If you know what you want the poll to say, have a public poll - make sure the pollster knows what you want the results to be!
Needless to say you don't publish private polls (nor would you want to most of the time).