Are poll averages more reliable than individual outlier surveys?
Core argument: A June 26 New York Times/Siena College poll found Trump ahead by six percentage points among registered voters and three points among likely voters nationally, his best result in a reputable national survey in months.
[A June 26] New York Times/Siena College poll doesn’t look much like other polls. It finds Trump ahead by six percentage points among registered voters and three points among likely voters nationally. That’s his best result in a reputable national survey in months. You have to go back to a CNN/SSRS poll in April to find something showing him ahead by six points with registered voters. (A Quinnipiac poll today found Trump up by four among registered voters.) When outlier results come around, it’s generally better to look at the average of polls. As it happens, we released our poll averages for the cycle on Monday: Mr. Trump is ahead by one point over President Biden after including the latest Times/Siena poll. That’s a safer measure of where the race stands. But that doesn’t necessarily mean the poll should be tossed out altogether. Sometimes, the outliers are right.

