One pollster was close regarding Iowa - Selzer/Iowa Poll

[SharonClark]

Ann Selzer's last poll for Iowa had Trump and Ernst ahead by more than any other A rated poll:
Trump +7
Ernst +4.

Vote count:
Trump +8.2
Ernst +6.6

Iowa was hit by a red wave that hit in the last week, 538 showed this as a progressively higher red line.

[Ace Rothstein]

1. Iowa and Ohio appear to be a lost cause at this point.

Good thing we are making progress in GA, NC and AZ.

[Buckeye_Democrat]

3. Yes, unfortunately for Ohio too.

My purple county voted for Biden this time (barely voted for Trump last time), but the more rural counties just keep getting worse!

[Blasphemer]

2. If we pay attention to polls at all in the future, maybe the key is....

Using the most reliable poll for a specific state/district. Maybe some pollsters do better in certain states? Selzer certainly nailed Iowa.

[PTWB]

4. She was rated the gold standard of the gold standard by 538.

We need the rest of the pollsters to do what she does.

[LisaL]

6. Then we'd all be demoralized even before the election.

What good would that do?

[PTWB]

7. Demoralized? No. Motivated as hell? YES!!

[LisaL]

11. Well, the Iowa poll came out before the election.

Did it motivate anybody in Iowa?

[PTWB]

12. All the other polls had Iowa pretty close.

Did the +8 and +17 polls for Joe in Wisconsin make everyone complacent?

[qazplm135]

5. Gold standard

Just like Ralston in Nevada.

[JI7]

8. It was only in the last 2 or 3 weeks that people thought Biden might

have a chance in those states.

But they weren't really seen as competitive for most of the campaign.

[SharonClark]

9. Iowa's Ann Selzer on what journalists need to know about polling

An article from the Columbia Journalism Review from 5 years ago is still interesting.
https://www.cjr.org/united_states_project/ann_selzer_iowa_poll_interview.php

BTW - Ann has lived in Des Moines since the 1980's and is virtually unknown in the community. She never appears on contributors' lists of cultural institutions or non-profits (symphony, zoo, botanic garden, library, etc).

[Bigredhunk]

10. Ugh

The pollsters weren't as highly rated, but almost all the polls on 538 prior to the Seltzer poll had the 3 Dem house seat holders remaining in office. Their leads were pretty big too. Then this Seltzer gal came along and spoiled 2/3's of our fun. Greenfield/ernst was always going to be close. It's gotten harder for Dems to win big office here in IA. Hopefully chuckles doesn't run as a 90-yr-old and we can replace his seat with a Dem (although he's going to try with all his might to get his grandson in that seat).