Meet Kristen Soltis.
Pollster by day. Rock star by night.
Kristen was kind enough to answer a few questions for one of our Famous 5 interviews.
1) You’re literally a rock star. And a pollster. How did that happen?
I finished up an internship in 2005 and wanted to learn about political strategy and communications. Polling is the perfect intersection of those two; you get to use research to guide big-picture strategic decisions and also to guide the creation of a great narrative. Not everyone gets excited about the possibilities contained in a fresh data set from a national survey, but I do. The Winston Group hired me and I’ve had a chance to grow with the company ever since!
As for the band, I was approached by some friends-of-a-friend after a birthday party karaoke rendition of Billy Joel’s “Scenes From An Italian Restaurant.” They asked if I’d ever wanted to be in a band. I confessed that I’d wanted to be Gwen Stefani when I was in middle school. The rest is history. I got to be the frontwoman and made wearing a red dress on stage my signature look. The band had a great two year run before the guys all moved away for work or became lawyers – such an only-in-DC way for a band to meet its end! Hardly the stuff of VH1 “Behind the Music” specials. I miss it a lot. Having a creative outlet is incredibly important.
2) The boss tells the office to take off Friday. What are you doing for the day?
Hitting the snooze button a lot, staying in bed to watch Morning Joe and The Daily Rundown. (I’m addicted to the snooze button.) I’m trying to get better at golf, so I’d play a round and then meet up with friends at Biergarten Haus.
3) Polling has shifted dramatically over the past few years, where do you see it going?
I think polling is going to become less about asking people what they think and more about analyzing data that is already out there. Response rates are getting lower and lower as people screen calls from pollsters and move away from landlines. Meanwhile, people are more open than ever about their views, their desires, their beliefs. Individuals reveal preferences in places like Facebook and Twitter; large groups reveal information through web traffic and search data. I really think analytics are where polling is going to move in the future.
4) As a University of Florida graduate, do you mind seeing Tim Tebow wearing jorts?
Tim Tebow can wear whatever he wants. He’s the greatest human being of our time. Period.
5) Who has been the biggest influence in your life? Music? Professionally?
This is a pretty huge question! My biggest influences have been my parents. For music, I always loved Monique Powell from Save Ferris – a strong frontwoman belting it out in a dress. Professionally, I’ve learned so much from Dave Winston and Myra Miller while working at The Winston Group about how to think strategically. I’m also frequently influenced by the stuff written by Reihan Salam, Jim Manzi, and Megan McArdle. Also, as a Florida native, I’ve been a longtime fan of Jeb Bush. I took a few semesters of Russian in college because I loved Condoleezza Rice, and I’ve got a Margaret Thatcher picture hanging up in my office.
