AP continues to tout old poll showing 12-point Lieberman lead while ignoring more recent polls showing closer race

Last week, Media Matters for America noted that an August 25 Associated Press article about the Connecticut Senate race "summarized the state of the race by emphasizing a week-old poll showing Sen. Joseph I. Lieberman with a 12-point lead over Democratic nominee Ned Lamont rather than two more recent polls that show the race in a dead heat."

In an August 29 article about former Republican vice-presidential candidate Jack Kemp's plan to campaign with Lieberman, the Associated Press continued to misleadingly tout the outdated Quinnipiac poll. The AP also ignored two other polls and downplayed a third, all of which are more recent and all of which show a closer race. The AP reported:

A Quinnipiac University poll last week showed Lieberman with a 12-point lead over Lamont among likely voters, while an American Research Group poll showed Lieberman with only a slight advantage. Republican Alan Schlesinger received single-digit support in both polls.

In fact, the Quinnipiac poll wasn't "last week," it was two weeks ago -- the poll was conducted August 10-14 and was released August 17.

The three polls released since the Quinnipiac poll:

• The American Research Group showed Lieberman with a 2-point lead. The AP mentioned the ARG poll, but failed to note that it is more recent than the Quinnipiac poll and characterized the ARG poll only vaguely.
• A Rasmussen Reports poll also showed Lieberman with a 2-point lead. The AP omitted any mention of this poll.
• The AP did not mention a Zogby poll, the newest of the four, that put Lieberman's lead at 10 points.

The Quinnipiac poll is not only the most out-of-date of the four polls, it also showed the largest lead for Lieberman. Yet the Associated Press consistently touts this old poll at the expense of newer polls showing a closer race.