If this week's Quinnipiac Poll looked bleak for Florida Republicans, the reason may be in the sampling.

The poll, which showed President Barack Obama's popularity rising and Sen. Bill Nelson whipping the GOP competition, surveyed an artificially low number of Republican voters.

While 27 of respondents identified themselves as Republicans, the party has 36 percent of the state's registered voters.

But the poll also appeared to under-represent Democrats. Thirty-four percent of the respondents identified themselves as Democrats, but Dems constitute 41 percent of Florida's registered voters.

The most lopsided -- and potentially inflated -- numbers came among independents/others. That cohort, which accounts for just 23 percent of registered voters, ballooned to nearly 37 percent in the Q-Poll.

So, though Republicans can excuse the party's poor poll showing from their understated numbers, the Q-Poll results from a heavy sampling of independents can hardly be comforting.