Thursday, October 27, 2016

Polls and why they are stupid

From Don Surber, Clinton leads by 12, no 8, no 6:
Don't know what the story will be tomorrow. Maybe ABC just won't post its results. The polls aren't rigged. They're wrong.
Rigged? Sometimes. Wrong? Yeah, probably.

Mainly, polls are stupid.

I can think of no good reason for any normal person, not affiliated with a party or campaign, to pay ANY attention to any poll, ever. Polling organizations conduct polls to build reputations. Media organizations use them to drive ratings and sell "newspapers" (remember those?)

A poll is only useful as a curiosity, and best understood as a highly flawed snapshot of what a few hundred people think about the presidential candidates.

Your vote is precious, and  should be based on what YOU like, not what other people like. That's what a vote is - your personal preference. It really should not be impacted in *any* way by what others think you should think.

Obsessing over polls is a good way to drive yourself nuts. Especially when it's blatantly obvious that at least some polls, some of the time, are purposely trying to influence, rather than reflect, the choices of the voting public.

That's propaganda. I recommend everyone eliminate it from their life. Who needs it?