PPP’s philosophy is simple, but disconcerting: Get the result right. Jensen emphasized that “the only thing we’re trying to accomplish when weighting our polls is to accurately tell people what would happen if the election was today.” He reiterated that his polling was accurate, that his clients were satisfied. That’s much like how PPP rationalized its Georgia poll on Twitter. The problem is that it’s very difficult to distinguish these statements from weighting toward a desired result.

Of course, it’s impossible to prove that PPP weights toward a desired result. But what’s so troubling is that it’s totally possible. No other pollster employs a truly ad hoc approach, with the flexibility to weight to whatever electorate it chooses, while allowing the composition of the electorate to fluctuate based on the inconsistent and subjective application of controversial or undisclosed metrics. In PPP’s own words, they “don’t have any specific rules” about how to weight from poll to poll. And within that framework, it’s a little absurd that PPP reserves the power to wield a weighting bludgeon, like considering the last election, whenever and however the firm feels like it. And while that inconsistency prevents anyone from proving that they weight toward a desired results, it also prevents PPP from proving that it does not.