Joe Napolitan was a legendary pollster and political consultant who worked on presidential campaigns for John F. Kennedy, Lyndon B. Johnson, and Hubert Humphrey along with other national and world leaders.

In 1972, he wrote a fascinating book “The Election Game and How to Win It.” Among many impacts and accolades, Newt Gingrich said he relied on that book as a manual for his campaign to win Republican control of the House in 1994—the first Republican majority in 40 years.

Scott Rasmussen read that book as a high school student. By sheer coincidence, his best friend’s father had gone to school with Napolitan and a meeting was arranged. “Looking back,” Rasmussen said, “I can’t get over the fact that this man took time out of his schedule advising world leaders to spend an hour with a high school kid. I later learned that he was always generous with his time, a great gift.”

That generosity to a high school student is one reason Scott chose to name this foundation after Napolitan. Another is that Napolitan saw polls as a tool for listening carefully to voters. One of his great insights became the driving principle of the Napolitan Institute: “Never underestimate the intelligence of the voters, nor overestimate the amount of knowledge at their disposal.”

Unfortunately, in the elite political bubble of the 21st century, Napolitan’s wise advice has not only been rejected, but turned upside down. As Scott Rasmussen observed, “Too many political elites mistakenly believe both that voters are stupid and that they hang on every word uttered in official Washington.”

That’s why the Napolitan Institute is needed.

Our mission is to amplify and magnify the voice of the American people so clearly and powerfully that it becomes the driving, framing and shaping force for the crucial conversations of our nation