Polls, Huh, What Are They Good For?
I know– we post poll results here at Polipundit. Regular readers also know that when we do, we alert them to any problems with the polls cited. Some polls, especially those done internally by campaigns and by groups involved with specific issues, can be helpful and instructive. I am not saying that all polls are worthless, but I have become quite suspicious of polls ever since they showed gun control to be a winning issue for Democrats back in the 90′s. Depending on the way the questions are worded, they can yield almost any result desired, and as seen in the gun control example, they don’t accurately measure the intensity of emotion of those on each side of an issue. The exit poll fiascos in the past two Presidential elections taught me once and for all to take polls with a huge spoonful of salt.
Polls can be valuable tools if the polls are conducted by a reputable firm using unbiased questions and representative samples of the electorate. I am just saying that a lot of polls out there are not reliable and before poll results are used as a basis for strategy, the poll should be examined carefully. Ankle Biting Pundits does just that with the most recent Washington Post poll and finds that it is less than reliable. (I was going to say it is a piece of crap, but I will leave that for the reader to decide after looking at ABP’s analysis.)
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