Polls: Are they good for America?
- "President Bush has a double-digit lead over Sen. Kerry"
- "Bush's bounce has evaporated; Virtual tie in race for White House"
- "68% to 28% in favor of Bush"
- "Kerry holds slight lead in key swing states"
- "Bush holds slight lead in key swing states"
Blah, Blah, Blah, Blah, Blah! Over the past few weeks, we have all been bombarded by more percentages and surveys than an actuary encounters. In fact, we are forced to digest so many numbers that we don't know what to think anymore.
One poll states that "Candidate A" has a lead and yet another has "Candidate B". Which one is it? Which one can you trust? If it's a CNN poll, you wonder if it has a left-wing bias and if the poll is reported by FOX, a right-wing bias is suspected.
The problem with this is that many Americans don't bother to sift through information on their own. They depend on 8 second soundclips they here on the 10 o'clock news made by Kerry or Bush (does the media even cover Ralph Nader?). They also consider public opinion. "Who does my neighbor favor in the upcoming election?" Unlike in sports, where the underdog is often rooted for, I believe that in politics, people like to attach themselves to a winner. Who wants to "waste" time and a vote, only to lose in the end? So, when these people see polls, which are often skewed, the polls will have a definite influence on who the person will vote for or if he/she will actually go out to vote.
Why does there have to be polls? Why can't the media just put out concrete information out there and let the people cast their votes on Election Day?
I have never taken a Political Science class not have I ever taken a statistics class. So, if anyone out there can enlighten me on the necessity of election polls, I am willing to hear your argument. Because, seriously, I'm clueless.
Btw, 100% of me is voting Kerry/Edwards.
posted by Brian at 10:05 AM
1 Comments:
I'm majoring in political science, and *I* can't even tell you why polls are a must-have. The easy answer, which I happen to believe, is that polling companies are a business like any other business, and they've convinced the public to be obsessed with polls just to make money.
I'm for internal polling, which candidates should do in order to know how to allot their resources; the flaw there is that they might use the polls to determine their positions.
Life would be so much easier without polls.
Oh, and btw, I'd like to argue that CNN does NOT have a left-wing bias. For the large part, their anchors are openly right-wing shills. Paula Zahn, Judy Woodruff, Wolf Blitzer, and esp. Candy Crowley all spit out Bush talking points like there's no tomorrow.
Gallup, on the other hand, does have a right-wing bias. The head of Gallup is a big right-winger. An interesting thing to remember about Gallup is that on October 26, 2000, they predicted that Bush would win the election by 13%. Hmm...that's not how I remember it turning out.
Glad to hear that you're supporting K/E!
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