Most political junkies love polls -- I hate them. So much polling is done any more that the polls seem to drive the news rather than the other way around. You have a policy you want to find support for? You can have a poll done to do just that.
Having said that, I notice that the liberal flagship blog Daily Kos is flush with polls. Of course there are plenty of conservative blogs that track polls closely such as my favorite, RealClearPolitics, but at Daily Kos it seems they are constantly sighting this poll of that poll to reflect what they believe to be true. Granted, Kos himself usually adds a preface to his posts indicating he is still pessimistic about the election despite what the polls say. He’s been wrong so many election cycles I don’t blame him for being gun shy.
Jim Geraghty at TKS has an interesting discussion about the accuracy of modern day polling (keep scrolling, there are several posts.) With the rapid increase of cell phones and many homes going without a land-line altogether, just how accurate are polls anymore? Who are the people that answer the polls? Are they answering honestly? What are the demographics? It’s a fascinating discussion and as the electronic revolution continues the dynamics of polling will have to adapt in order to provide accurate information.
For my part I’ve been polled one time, and will never do it again. It takes entirely too long and as it drug on I became less interested and therefore was paying less attention to what they were asking. I tend to believe that most people who vote regularly such as myself would probably have the same reaction. This years election will be interesting to watch and see to what degree the polling is accurate. If the polls are not even close and the Democrat Tidal Wave doesn’t happen, the KosKidz are going to have to be put on suicide watch.
No comments:
Post a Comment