Scott Rasmussen.html



Scott Rasmussen (born 1955 or 1956¹) is an American public opinion pollster. He is the founder and CEO of Rasmussen Reports. He also co-founded the sports network ESPN, and is currently president of the Methodist Ocean Grove Camp Meeting Association.

ESPN

From an early age, Rasmussen was exposed to the broadcasting business through his father, Bill Rasmussen, who had worked for radio stations and was a communications director for the New England Whalers ice hockey team.² In 1979, Scott and Bill Rasmussen founded ESPN³, the cable sports network. Their stake in ESPN was bought out by Texaco in 1984.¹

Education

Rasmussen earned a bachelor's degree in history at DePauw University¹, graduating in 1986⁴, and later an executive MBA from Wake Forest University¹.

Polling

In 1995, he founded a polling company called GrassRoots Research.¹ In 1999, his company Rasmussen Research was bought by TownPagesNet.com for about $4.5 million in ordinary shares.⁵ As of 2008, Scott Rasmussen is the CEO of Rasmussen Reports (a separate company) and describes himself as having been an independent public opinion pollster for more than a decade.⁶ He received $95,500 from the Republican National Committee and $45,500 from the George W. Bush presidential campaign as a campaign consultant for the 2004 presidential election.⁷

Rasmussen's polls are notable for their use of automated public opinion polling, involving pre-recorded telephone inquiries.⁸ These types of polls have been shown to produce accurate results at low cost, although some traditional pollsters are skeptical of this methodology and prefer traditional, operator-assisted polling techniques.⁹ Polls by Rasmussen Reports are cited regularly by most major news sources, and as a guest analyst Rasmussen has appeared on a number of news broadcasts, including the Fox News Channel, the BBC, CNN, NPR, and CNBC.

Religious activities

Scott Rasmussen is an Evangelical Christian and is president of the Ocean Grove Camp Meeting Association, a not-for-profit corporation with historic ties to the United Methodist Church and the Wesleyan tradition. The Camp Meeting founded the town of Ocean Grove, New Jersey in 1869 and maintains a Christian seaside resort community providing opportunities for spiritual birth, growth, and renewal. His slogan for the 2006 Annual Camp Meeting was 'In the Redemption Business.'

There has been some controversy over the Camp Meeting Association's policies towards the local gay community. In 2007 under Scott's leadership, the Camp Meeting denied three requests for the use of the Ocean Grove boardwalk pavilion (OGCMA property) for same-sex civil unions. ¹⁰

This caused public protest within the community and action to be taken by local gay and lesbian groups through the New Jersey court system.

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