I just don't get it about "DUing" or "Freeping" polls...

[Carson]

Perhaps someone could explain it to me.

I mean, these polls are meaningless. It's the "choirs" of both parties voting.

DU tells it's folks to vote, FreeRepublic tells it's folks to vote. It just seems like asinine one-up-manship to me.

Honestly, if Kerry had done terribly, would anyone here click the "Bush Won" button on a poll?

I doubt it. And the same could be said for the Freepers.

Or am I missing something here? Do these polls really influence anyone??

[Mizmoon]

1. If nothing else it shows that Kerry has a strong base

ready, willing, and able to fight for him in the only ways we can.

[sonicx]

2. of course it's dumb

but the networks like to use em, so we must give our opinions. :)

[liberalmuse]

3. I vote ONCE.

And I assume most Dems/Libs do the same. It is important to hit the polls because perception is everything. The media tout these polls as if they mean something. It would be nice to believe most Americans have more depth than this, but to be honest, I am a cynic in this regard.

[Scairp]

36. I do too

These polls are not scientific, that's true, but they can be important if some still undecideds or maybe weak for Shrub voters see them, they could be a help in that area. I just like to see my guy winning these. It's a good feeling. Besides, there are more of us than them so we should be winning these online polls hands down. And if Kerry did badly, which I don't think is even possible, I just wouldn't vote at all.

[UCLA Dem]

4. Its good for morale

[flyingfysh]

5. even unscientific polls indicate something

Here we have 2 sides, each trying to vote a set of polls their way. If one side comes out way ahead, that can indicate that they have better organizational strength, and this also correlates better with registering voters, etc. Or maybe they just have the better candidate.

[WillyT]

6. It Totally Counteracts The Tripe Being Shoveled On TV At This Moment !!!

:mad:

[Maple]

7. Yes, the polls influence people

If all polls show Bush winning, people assume Bush was better.

They will refuse to believe their own eyes and ears, and go with the one they perceive to be the winner in the polls.

Stupid, but they do.

[sandnsea]

8. Bandwagon voters

Otherwise known as undecideds. They pay attention to which way the wind is blowing and nothing more. Polls and emails and phone calls are critical, otherwise the pundits think they can say anything they want and get away with it and the bandwagon voters will go along.

[Arioch]

15. Here's the thing...

...if ALL the DUers hit the polls and ALL the Freepers hit the polls...

...assuming we have roughly equal numbers...

...and Kerry still comes out winning, doesn't that mean that American has picked John Kerry?

We expect each side to exert maximum effort, don't we?
If this is the case, then "mainstream" American is what is tipping the balance..

;)

[sandnsea]

26. Undecideds

Aren't mainstream, they're the last 2-3%, bandwagon voters. And online polls have never matched offline polls, so I have no idea what that's about anyway.

[arwalden]

9. I Felt The Same As You... At One Time.

I thought it was the most idiotic thing to do... BUT!... seeing that so many pundits refer to them as though it were scientific (or meaningful)... and seeing that so many of the uninformed public see them as some realistic barometer of public opinion, I figured that we might as well try to beat the Freepers at their own game.

For those who know, it's a game.

For those who don't understand, then we're balancing the misinformation and wrong impressions that they are getting from the (idiotic) polls.

-- Allen


Besides, it drives the Freepers crazy.

[Carson]

23. "Besides, it drives the Freepers crazy"

Now that's the best reason I've heard yet. ;-)

[joshcryer]

10. This is in my experience the first time in DU's history...

...that the admins actually straight up advocated this kind of thing. Why? Because the Freepers have been doing it for so long (to any and every poll they find, even some that are on little small town websites), and it's time for some payback.

Who has the bigger base? Obviously the Kerry supporters. We win every damn time. Now they know what it's like. It makes them go mad.

[Rabelais]

11. it is disturbing

that people on our side think its ok to cheat and manipulate results.

[Libby2]

17. what part of voting once

is cheating and manipulating?

It's our right.

[OnionPatch]

19. Who's cheating?

We're entitled to add our opinions to the polls!!! And I only vote once on each poll. Most polls won't even let you vote more than once. This is important because the pundits try to talk everyone into thinking * won. We need to keep them from doing that.

[ibegurpard]

12. The media actually reports the results of these "polls"

and not everyone is aware of how completely useless they are as a true gage of public opinion. So, they used to influence perception and thus it is not a wasted effort to influence them to our benefit.

[Shadow30]

13. WHY?

Because the media has been trying to spin every debate to Bush and the only way it becomes clear that Kerry actually won is via these polls,so there not scientific but there what we have to get our thoughts out there.

[Hong Kong Cavalier]

14. Correction. FR tells their followers to vote...

...then clear your web browser cookies, then vote again.
Lather, rinse, repeat.
Some of them even have scripts running to do just that. Do a quick search over there, and eventually you'll find some posts about that.
We vote once, and do not advocate voting multiple times in a single poll. Considering that there's less than 60k DU members, and many of these polls are in the HUNDREDS of thousands, we don't have a LOT of influence, but a little.
Considering how many of them had Kerry leading...its kind of heartening.
And many "news" people won't mentions that these polls are unscientific...unless they go the Democrat's way. Watch Wolf Blitzer on CNN and you'll understand.

[Carson]

16. Thanks for the replies

It's disheartening (and scary) to think these kinds of polls actually influence the "undecided".

Sigh.

[mzmolly]

18. Well Kerry DID win, but the point is to win the psycological war as well

as the ground war. It's all important.

[Onlooker]

20. After the last debate ...

After the second debate, most polls showed that Kerry won by a small margin, but a week later, the Gallup poll reported that Kerry won by about 15%. I think the online polls are part of the spin process. It not only gives us a way of staying involved, it draws attention to undecideds that the Kerry campaign is highly motivated and organized. This gives people more confidence in Kerry and probably also appeals to people who like to go with a winner. The value isn't tremendous, but it's an important part of the effort to demonstrate that Kerry is ready to lead and that there are lots of people who have faith in him.

[rlev1223]

21. Keeping the conversation....

....helpful. The infodopes on TV have to talk... a lot...and the
certainly meaningless poll numbers give them a starting point. Big Kerry numbers trnslate into babble about the energy of the grassroots and voter turnout and so on, all of which helps Kerry.

It especially helped after the first debate
because Kerry's campaign had been referred to as dispirited prior to that, and for several days the chatter was mainly about the reinvigoration of his effort.

[Ready4Change]

22. When I first came to DU, DU didn't "DU" many polls.

I think a large amount of Bush's perceived favor in the early part of his term was due to the uncountered Freeping of online polls. The advent of DUing them has brought back at least some semblance of balance.

[LittleClarkie]

24. If they're going to be quoted on air

Then we can't let one side determine what they say

[bigtree]

33. Right! They get reported early and can influence

The Bush-Gore debate spin worked against Gore last election

[dave502d]

25. If we don.t vote,they make people think Bush won.

[Moonbeam_Starlight]

27. Why shouldn't I vote in those polls though?

CAn you give me one reason why I shouldn't?

Your point is moot becuause I DID think Kerry won all three.

[Carson]

35. I never said you shouldn't vote

My point in the OP was that these polls are essentially meaningless.

[Dem_Loyalist]

28. I have to believe its more of a morale thing

I just cant see that many "average" people suddenly hearing the results of a poll and saying they're going to vote for so and so. Maybe I'm over estimating the intelligence of average people too, lol. Regardless of what the polls say though, we know it's going to be a slam dunk in Nov.

[spanone]

29. They probably cancel each other out.

[Ellen Forradalom]

30. It's all part of the battle for perception of reality

Online polls are only real insofar as they influence the perception of the subject. And they do, simply by power of suggestion.

Personally, I think online polls are stupid and should go away.

[Carson]

34. ".... online polls are stupid and should go away."

Amen. Thanks for the reply.

[Bongo Prophet]

31. The Art and Science of cognitive dissonance.

When, for instance, Hardball packs a panel with 4 rightleaners and Ron Reagan, and then pull up a poll that suggests the online community is swinging a different and perhaps diametrically opposed view, it adds a dissenting voice into the mix.
This extra viewpoint, which Tweety takes great pains to point out is not scientific, helps to expose the obvious, which is that neither are the opinions of the panel. It therefore weakens the SPELL of spin disguised as expertise...

It comes down to a small contribution to spinning the spin and this has some small effect. The "What the hell is that box on Bush's back" meme and "Furious George" moniker are other examples of small and "trivial" things. So was "Al Gore/internet/liar/etc"......payback is a bitch, ain't it?

[Bongo Prophet]

32. The Art and Science of cognitive dissonance.

When, for instance, Hardball packs a panel with 4 rightleaners and Ron Reagan, and then pull up a poll that suggests the online community is swinging a different and perhaps diametrically opposed view, it adds a dissenting voice into the mix.
This extra viewpoint, which Tweety takes great pains to point out is not scientific, helps to expose the obvious, which is that neither are the opinions of the panel. It therefore weakens the SPELL of spin disguised as expertise...

It comes down to a small contribution to spinning the spin and this has some small effect. The "What the hell is that box on Bush's back" meme and "Furious George" moniker are other examples of small and "trivial" things. So was "Al Gore/internet/liar/etc"......payback is a bitch, ain't it?