This is something we all know, but maybe a reminder is in order.

[Atticus]

If you have enough money, you can buy a poll to "support" anything you want to promote. Period.

And, some who breathlessly post "OMG!-style" poll results are often the equivalents of trolls. I am not talking about "X takes the lead in Blank state!". I am talking about "Y is done for! X leads him/her by 20 points!"

Keep your heads. Trust your common sense. Ask "Who says?" often.

[leftieNanner]

1. Thank you Atticus

This is why I ignore all poll related posts.

[woodsprite]

2. I'm applying that thought process to EVERYTHING I hear lately. It's a good rule! nt

[Watchfoxheadexplodes]

3. I poll myself

Do I like and support a candidate and policy I believe in.

Do I believe in my heart my supported candidate can be elected.

[dewsgirl]

4. I think of this each and every time I see a poll and ignore them.

[Wellstone ruled]

5. It cost real dollars to do polling.

And experience says,it is all about the Q&A and the structure of those questions and is it open ended answers or multiple Guess answers. In recent years,the outcome is easily predicted by the later.

[davsand]

6. MANY times over the years I've said you get the polling you pay for.

I'm not slamming on polling done by indy polling groups, but I have seen any number of polls over the years that campaigns commission, and they frequently are biased in how questions are worded. The poll is structured to get a specific result. Sometimes they are "push polls" which are CLEARLY carrying a bias, but sometimes they are just (IMO) poorly written.

ANY poll that I see, I start by looking at the sample and the Margin of Error. Sometimes, it's pretty useless because there's just not much confidence in the data presented. Similarly, I am incredibly distrustful of the actual methodology used to collect the data. There is an increasing population of people who do not maintain a landline, and usually, those with a landline are older people. I know I sound biased, but here in the midwest, the conservative vote typically skews to the older population. That makes a huge difference in the outcomes.

YMMV.


Laura

[Atticus]

7. My mileage is about the same. nt

[Talitha]

8. I've never been polled, so AFAIK they're all invalid.