Scott Rasmussen

Scott William Rasmussen (born March 30, 1956) is an American public opinion pollster and political analyst.

He previously produced the ScottRasmussen.com Daily Tracking Poll, a Gauge of American voters' political sentiment.

He is editor-at-large for Ballotpedia, where he writes the Number of the Day Feature, and is a host for the podcast entitled "Just the Polls," a podcast series from Just the News.

Rasmussen graduated from Minnechaug Regional High School in 1974 and was goaltender for the high school hockey team.

He started college at the University of Connecticut, taking a class from professor Everett Ladd, a pollster and political scientist.

Around that time he was emcee for Howe's 50th birthday celebration in 1978, which Rasmussen cites as a highlight of his life: "nothing in my professional career will ever equal the thrill of celebrating [his] birthday."

In 1978, Rasmussen partnered with his father, Bill Rasmussen, to form an exclusively sports-devoted 24-hour cable television network.

The network was initially named "Entertainment and Sports Programming Network," but was changed to "ESPN" to shorten its length.

Five years later, the Rasmussen's ownership stake in ESPN was bought out by Texaco, who thereafter sold ESPN to ABC for $237 million.

They went on to found the Enterprise Radio Network.

Rasmussen and his father later had a falling out over what Rasmussen called unspecified "differences."

Rasmussen first became known for his public opinion polling work.

Rasmussen earned a bachelor's degree in history at his father's alma mater, DePauw University in Greencastle, Indiana, graduating in 1986, and later an executive MBA from the Babcock Graduate School of Management at Wake Forest University.

In the 1990s, he volunteered as a pollster for friends who were attempting to impose congressional term limits.

In 1995, he founded a polling company called GrassRoots Research.

In 1999, after changing the name to Rasmussen Research, the company was bought by TownPagesNet.com for about $4.5 million in ordinary shares.

Rasmussen founded Rasmussen Reports in 2003, where he served as pollster and president for 10 years until leaving the company in 2013.

Earlier in his professional life, Rasmussen co-founded the sports network ESPN.

After leaving Rasmussen Reports, Rasmussen founded Rasmussen Media Group, working as a political analyst, author, public speaker and columnist.

Rasmussen is a New York Times bestselling author and speaker, and he writes a weekly column for the Deseret News.

In 2003, Rasmussen founded Rasmussen Reports, LLC, a U.S.-based public opinion polling company, to track consumer confidence, investor confidence, and presidential approval.

Rasmussen Reports has been called "one of the most consistently interesting polling and analytics companies," generating a daily cycle of news reports based on original survey results as well as political, business, economic and lifestyle content.

Unlike traditional pollsters whose polls are often influenced by partisanship, the company's business model relies on website advertising and paid subscriptions for premium content.

Rasmussen Reports' polls are notable for their use of automated public opinion polling, involving pre-recorded telephone inquiries, which have been shown to produce accurate results at low cost.

In 2009, Noson Lawen Partners provided a significant investment in Rasmussen Reports to help expand its daily, automated tracking polls, noting the "rock solid credibility and market-leading accuracy of the Rasmussen Reports product suite."

In 2010, Rasmussen Reports was one of two firms providing daily tracking updates of the president's job approval ratings as well as consumer confidence.

By 2012, Rasmussen Reports had garnered a national reputation for providing "reliable, newsworthy and actionable public opinion data," receiving over one million visits per day during the presidential election that year.

In July 2013, Rasmussen left his position as president of Rasmussen Reports following disagreements with investors over business strategies.

In a press release from Rasmussen Reports, the company confirmed Rasmussen's departure and said, "[i]n part, the move reflects disagreements over company business strategies .... The Company emphasized that Mr. Rasmussen's legacy remains intact. His polling methodologies and protocols, widely acknowledged as among the most accurate and reliable in the industry, continue to guide and inform the company’s public opinion survey techniques. In addition, the editorial culture of excellence that he built is still very much in place."

The Washington Post referred to Rasmussen as "a driving force in American politics" and "an articulate and frequent guest on Fox News and other outlets, where his nominally nonpartisan data is often cited to support Republican talking points."

In the Wall Street Journal, political journalist John Fund called him "America's insurgent pollster".

His most recent book publication is entitled The Sun is Still Rising: Politics Has Failed But America Will Not and was released in 2018.

Rasmussen was born on Eglin Air Force Base near Valparaiso, Florida to Lois Ann and Bill Rasmussen.

Scott's father was from Chicago, Illinois and attended DePauw University in Indiana, where he met Scott's mother.

From an early age, Rasmussen was exposed to the broadcasting business through his father, who had worked for radio stations and was a communications director for the New England Whalers ice hockey team.

With the help of his father, Rasmussen taped his first radio commercial at the age of seven.

Rasmussen grew up spending summers in Ocean Grove, New Jersey with his grandparents.

He got his first job at age 14 as an umbrella boy.

He later served as an announcer for the New England Whalers of the World Hockey Association.

Rasmussen's childhood idol was hockey legend Gordie Howe.