I call bullshit on the Polls too. Who pays for the polls?

[wowimthere]

The media pays for these polls. Polls are owned and operated by the media. And as usual even a good poll can be corrupted because money is ensnared in driving the narrative. The tea party smattering that gained such national attention (even though we know that tea bag nation is a great big ole bastion of Republican silliness)is largely a media creation. The media not only wants this fight between tea baggers and liberals, they need it. They sponsor the polls and the polls essentially say what they want them to say. The media and their polls have been trying to undermine Obama three months into his presidency.

So I say the Polls are like the media. They are filled with bullshit. They drive the narrative. And they sure as hell can't be trusted.

[MrsCorleone]

1. Agreed! Nt

[emulatorloo]

2. Some polling outfits are more reliable than others. That being said the only important

poll is on election day.

[valerief]

3. Are they more reliable because the media tells us they are? nt

[emulatorloo]

5. No you sort of get a feel for it over time. Media thinks Rassmussen is reliable, we know it

swings way right.

[Freddie Stubbs]

11. Some are more reliable because their results are closer to election outcomes

[valerief]

17. The way exit polls used to be before electronic voting machines flipped our votes. nt

[demodonkey]

4. Beware that these polls are not setting us up for another election full of... "mischief"

If Dems lose, the polls have everyone expecting this so no one will notice or care.

In the meantime, Paperless Direct Recording Electronic voting machines are still in 17 states; DREs with paper (just about as bad) in dozens states more along with electronic poll books and other stuff that can fail or be manipulated. And the other usual disenfranchising techniques are still out there too.

Already in 2010 we've had bad problems with voting machines in SC and TN, and once again "coincidentally" all these problems hurt the Dems not the GOP.

I think it may be coming around yet again... wake up people, please WAKE UP.

[SDuderstadt]

6. I'm willing to bet you know little about how polling is...

actually done.

[otohara]

7. I Was Polled - Totally Slanted to Make POTUS Look Bad

not just bad, but horrible.

The questions were so long, they all sounded the same, but clearly manipulated to confuse even the smartest. Poor guy, kept having him repeat the questions - because I was sure I just answered the same damn question.

[rufus dog]

8. Look at the polls Tweety is pushing

Numbers now are worse than 2008 and 2006 on the question - Do you think the Country is headed in the wrong direction.

1. I think the Country is headed in the wrong direction and am a supporter of Obama.
2. Would the average person say things were worse when living on credit in 2006/2008 or now after the shit hit the fan?
3. Would the ignorant 30% ever say things were worse under a Republican president?

So it is a complete B.S. question. But Tweety twists it as a bad reflection on Obama.

Also all the bad polls you see are on "likely" voter models which give the Republicans and edge. The objective is to depress Democrats turn out.

[customerserviceguy]

9. That's what the reich wing was saying two years ago

When they thought that Gramps' experience was far more important to voters than Obama's vision.

[JNelson6563]

10. I agree with you!

:toast:

[pacalo]

12. I'm wondering if it's a set-up for stolen elections by the Repugs.

[demodonkey]

21. See my post #4!

:hi:

[Whisp]

13. You are absolutely right.

Wolf Blitzer on CNN can hardly contain his little rat faced weasel-glee when the polls indicate a drop for Obama. He practically jerks himself off right on camera.

Let us never forget these are the liars that never lifted a damn finger's worth of real journalism when Bush lied his way into the Iraq war. They cheered him on like he was some grand hero, at the request of their masters - the owners of war machine factories and other deadliness that sells for wonderful coin.

[smalll]

14. Let me explain to you: political polls are loss-leading, glamor projects done to get some press --

Pollsters do most of their polling in the private sector, for various (evil) corporations. It's otherwise known as a branch of "market research."

They do these political polls to get some attention. It's like free advertising. For that very reason, they have a huge incentive to be ACCURATE. Run a poll that consistently overestimates Republican strength on election day? Lose the next contract to run a poll on how one particular potato chip stacks up against the competition.

Of course, maybe despite all that, the pollsters are purposefully skewing Republican, in league with the MSM and Diebold. Those who belive in such vast conspiracies, all I can say is, I feel sorry for you. You should have learned more real history in school and/or had parents who loved you.

:shrug:

[rasputin1952]

15. Any poll is has the possibility of being "good" for a very limited time...

circumstances, the news cycle, almost anything that arises will change a poll. The other thing is, without analysis of the questions asked, by whom, in what way and the time of day among other things. But the most important thing is, how was polled and why, (ie, if you call Republican dominated districs or only take the poll in KS, NY or NV, what good is it?).

The biggest aspect that skews these things is the very # of them. People are polled out. The very # of polls has a negative effect. One a day, from several sources is ridiculous. Are the same people being polled?

The whole enterprise is bogus. The few that could be considered legitimate are just swept under the rug.

Bottom line, after 8 years of complete disaster, how could anyone possibly think that going back to that system could possibly be "the right thing to do"? Perhaps 25% will always go to the GOP...but that's it, and that's being generous, I think it's more like 15%

[Enthusiast]

16. They are preparing us for

voting irregularities.

[Vinca]

18. Who answers the polls? I've got caller ID and I now recognize

some of the companies that run them. Most of the time I ignore them.

[Bluenorthwest]

19. Who pays for them is secondary to what they really are...

Polls are ways to spend money and have something to talk about. They are no more or less accurate than they have previously been. And previously, they have been hit or miss. If polls were actual predictors of the future, well, we could predict the future. They took polls for 08 as well. I ask you, on election night, were you absolutely sure that what happened was going to happen? If polls were always right, there would be no such thing as election night nerves, or surprises.
If I am not mistaken, gamblers take bets on elections. Casinos. So do they often take bets on events with a known outcome?
If polling really worked, there would be much less loss in many business efforts. But it does not work, not in that regard. As a way of making some spin that can be used to send a message that might help you win, polls work well.
Note the recent use of nameless 'generic Republican v generic Democrat'. All the candidates are known at this point. Asking generic is a way to avoid the actual questions. These elections are not 'generic' in any way. They are in State, with known candidates. The guy running back east has zip to do with who's running here.
They were polling away in 08 as well. I knew the deal a day or two out, when Bush Bumper Sticker neighbor told me he could not vote for a ticket with Palin on it, and that he was thinking about not just skipping that line, but voting for Obama, to prevent Palin from having office. Very conservative. But not an idiot. No poll would have asked him about that. And had they asked him on that day about a 'generic choice' he'd have said Republican. The choice was not generic. The real choice was Palin or a Democrat or no vote at all.
If polls predicted the future, those who take them would be stunningly rich and powerful. Polls tell me more about the writer of the questions than about the people who answer them. The intention of the questions is more important than the surface content of those questions.

[wowimthere]

24. Your take is very well put. I agree with the premise.

[slackmaster]

20. The only "poll" that matters is the election

:nuke:

[Upton]

22. Did you call bullshit on the polls in 2008?

Or were those just fine because they had us leading?

[wowimthere]

23. I see the polls. I watch polls but just like the speech by colin Powell I don't believe everything

I see or hear from the media, our politicians, the polls. Remember, the polls said Obama was down at sometime in 2008. He won. Polls and the media counted Obama out against Clinton. Tweety was wrong on almost every substantive declaration. Remember this? "The Clintons are going to run the table on him. I don't believe everything I read just because it's printed. Printed doesn't make it a fact. Exit polls were accurate in 2004 regarding Kerry's run. Kerry should have won. Polls be damned. The election was stolen. Polls can be right or they can say what you want. You only need choose. I call bullshit on these polls two months away.

[Upton]

25. Obama was only down

for a brief time after McCain got a bump from Palin's selection and the GOP convention. I just find it ironic that many of the same polls that are now being dismissed so easily, were being touted as proof of our coming victory in 2008. Only then it was the Repukes out claiming the polls were BS.

The truth is, most of those who claim the polls are BS, just don't like the look of the results.

[thewiseguy]

26. Thank you.

I feel like some folks are being in total denial about what will happen in November.

[Upton]

27. Sure..

for me, it's surprising and even a little distressing, to find so many in different stages of denial..

I guess it's much easier to blame pundits and pollsters, rather than looking at the real reasons for our current predicament..

[wowimthere]

28. that's the rationale for last weeks 10 point lead by GOP and today's lead evaporating.

You're disappointed that I don't take all polls seriously if I disagree with their results? It is very easy to blame pundits and pollsters. That's why I do. Again, pundits and pollsters were instrumental in getting us stuck in Iraq. Somehow you think pundits weren't to blame? How quickly we forget. I'm skeptical about people who believe "everything" they read as if because a poll is conducted and a pundit explains his/her side it is somehow a fact. Wow. Republicans have worked to undermine much of what is good for this country today and yet somehow some believe we're in this mess because of one man? Give me a break. All polls are subjective. Humans conduct them. It does depend on what questions are asked and how the debate is being framed.

[robcon]

29. The polls are fair, and usually pretty accurate.

We have to stop wishing away the problems this November, IMO.