DU Poll: Are polls a legit source of info or are they skewed?

[BigmanPigman]

19 votes, 0 passes | Time left: Unlimited
	No
	5 (26%)
	Yes
	3 (16%)
	Depends
	3 (16%)
	Sometimes
	0 (0%)
	Other
	0 (0%)
	This poll is a satire by Bigman Pigman
	8 (42%)
	0 DU members did not wish to select any of the options provided.
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[Silent Type]

1. Source of info, most definitely. We gotta decide if it's good, bad, aberration, BS, etc.

I am somewhat surprised at the number of people who rationalize any shocking poll results by rejecting the science.

In any event, trends and better designed polls are what matters most. None of these polls are predictive enough — at this date — for an unbiased gambler to bet on either candidate.

[ripcord]

2. It all depends on whether the poll agrees with our views or not.

[littlemissmartypants]

3. Statistics isn't really math. It's a form of numerical voodoo. nt

[Sympthsical]

4. It's information about a point in time - not a prediction

First, the polls were amazingly good in 2022. This whole "But they predicted a Red Wave . . ." thing is untrue. The polls predicted a close election, which is what we got. The analysts predicted a Red Wave.

Do I believe current polling numbers? Oh yes. I hear enough - to an overwhelming degree - about what people think. What I hear and see and read are aligned closely to what polls look like. I know a lot of people hate hearing it or want it to be untrue, but a very solid majority of the country isn't thrilled about their choices.

Does it mean we'll lose? No, of course not. The election is a year away. And how people feel now will invariably change by 2024. How will it change? Who knows. Life happens. Did anyone know the Israel/Gaza war would have everyone at each other's throats when they woke up October 6th? And once an election arrives, and your choices are coalesced into two very distinct individuals, clarity of one's choice has a way of concentrating for people in a way that thinking a year ahead does not.

What does this mean? For us, almost nothing. For people who run campaigns, quite a bit. The polls are for them, not for us. It's for them to retool campaigns, find weaknesses, get a sense of what demographics need shoring up, find out if there are areas in various municipalities or states where they could be organizing better. If I were a campaign consultant or manager, I'd be hard at work figuring out what the polls mean.

The rest of us? We'll do what we do. I assume all of us here will vote Democratic next year. Polls aren't going change that.