A Pox on Polls! Who Really Needs Them?

It's time to expose the dark secret about political polls.

We, the people, don't need them.

However, the media market needs them to make a profit by making us puppets.

Yeah. Puppets. The polls are meant to get the public stirred up over fleeting issues that will attract viewers (the sound of cash accumulating) by presenting constantly changing narratives about candidates in an election.

Polls mean nothing to most Americans. The general public doesn't wake up each day wondering what the polls have to say. Polls are for political geeks and media types desperately trying to attract listeners and viewers by serving up controversial subjects.

The absurdity of polls is intrinsic. The pollsters take a small sampling of people and based upon their reaction predict percentages like seers in Harry Potter. 

I took an Empirical Reseach class while attending Humboldt State University (now Cal Poly Humbolt) in 1979. It was an eye-opener. After researching all the variables in conducting polls I came to the conclusion that they are dust in the wind. They are easily manipulated and often have partisan leanings.

Yet pollsters continue to conduct surveys that only serve a select audience willing to suspend their common sense and to get worked up if their candidate is winning or losing.

It's like throwing chum to a school of sharks. Poll watchers are easily distressed, especially if they think something bad is happening to their candidate.

To be sure, polls are nothing more than twisted entertainment for the masses. The goal of a poll is to manipulate numbers in a way that appears scientifically based and credible. That doesn't change the fact that polls are easily polluted.

Poll Quotes

** "Journalists should denounce government by public opinion polls." - Dan Rather

** "Polls? Nah... they're for strippers and cross-country skiers." Sarah Palin

** "Leaders are responsible not for running public opinion polls but for the consequences of their actions." Henry Kissinger

** "Public opinion polls are rather like children in a garden, digging things up all the time to see how they're growing." J.B. Priestley

** "Don't worry about polls, but if you do, don't admit it." Rosalynn Carter

As it Stands, for the record I once participated in a poll in the early 80s. I lied on every question just to prove a point. Polls suck.