McClintock refutes polls with internal numbers

Republican Tom McClintock’s campaign has released internal polling numbers to refute Democratic polls showing Democrat Charlie Brown ahead in the race for retiring Rep. John Doolittle’s (R) seat.

{mosads}The latest poll, conducted by California pollster Val R. Smith for McClintock, gives him a 47-39 lead. His results include a chart refuting the polling methods used by Research 2000 for the Daily Kos poll, which last week showed Brown up 46-41.

“The most egregious deficiencies arise from a poor sampling frame,” Smith said in a memo. “The [Random Digit] sampling frame resulted in, among other things, a gross under-sampling of both Republicans and senior citizens.”

The Brown campaign also conducted its own poll at the end of August, done by Pete Brodnitz of the Benenson Strategy Group. It showed Brown with a 43-41 lead.

Brown spokesman Todd Stenhouse said Smith’s methodology is “suspect.”

“Val has something of a history of padding McClintock’s numbers by 15 points,” Stenhouse said. “Less than two weeks before the California 4th district Republican primary, he said he would win by 30 points. He won by 14.”

GOP presidential nominee John McCain has a strong lead in the district, but Brown’s campaign said constituents want change after being represented for over a decade by Doolittle, whom they have tied to convicted lobbyist Jack Abramoff.