Explain to me how 47,000 people voted in this MSNBC poll

[shaniqua6392]

and 79% of them agree that Barack Obama is better on economic issues, yet the media is filled with poll after poll putting McCain ahead? I just don't get it. How do poll takers get their numbers and why are they so different from every on line poll that I have seen lately? The numbers just don't add up. http://sfomurchu.newsvine.com/_question/2008/09/16/1872808-which-candidate-has-the-best-policy-for-solving-americas-economic-problems

[polichick]

1. New voters and cell phone users vote online - but don't get polled.

[anonymous171]

2. The polls are all still showing remnants of the Palin bounce

[democrattotheend]

3. Online polls like that are self-selecting

And thus the sample is heavily biased and not representative of the broader population. If you look at the AOL straw poll, which gets a lot of votes every week, McCain often leads in California, New York, Illinois, sometimes even DC, which went 91% for Kerry.

Some pollsters have experimented with limited success with online polling, but they do it by invitation-only to a carefully selected sample.

[nxylas]

4. Online polls aren't worth the pixels they're printed on

Using a self-selecting poll as a stick with which to beat the polling firms won't cut it. There are many grounds to criticize their methodology, but that ain't one of them.

[seabeyond]

5. each vote is a hundred points? i dont know. n/t

[TransitJohn]

6. Because online polls are non-scientific.

For one thing, people who spend time online are more likely to have a higher level of education, more likely to lean democratic, etc. In other words, ma and pa kettle probably aren't likely to vote in MSNBC online polls, but are much more likely to vote than a 21 year old hipster voting in an online poll on his iphone.

[Ichingcarpenter]

7. I've question the methodology for months now since the primaries

During the primaries they gave the percentage of republicans, democrats, independents
on who they called for the poll. They no longer do that and weight the polls with republicans
even though there has been an exodus from the party to independents then to democrats.

[NYC_SKP]

8. Imagine the worst reason, and that's your answer. MSM complicity. nt