Do you think that what you hear on Television about who is ahead in the Presidential Polls is the truth?

Question

More and more I am beginning to see disparities and lies in all of the polls and so called news outlets. Don't believe it? Start investigating for yourself. Media is controlled by a small few. Are we to believe what is being fed to us on a daily basis?

Answer 1

I put little stock in polls. What group was polled? It could be the campaign headquarters of some politician, it could be a group of middle-school kids or it could be the guys in the newsroom.

Polls do not represent a cross section of the voters. Only actual voting can do that.

Answer 2

You haven't given any specifics. What exactly am I supposed to agree or disagree with?

I have no problem with the actual polls. What I have a problem with is how the data is reported. For example the news may report that one candidate is slightly ahead of another, However if the difference is within the polls margin of error then the two candidates are really statistically tied.
It's also important to look at who is being polled. For example in an election, polls of likely voters will tell you more than a poll of all adults or people who are simply registered voters.

Answer 3

Here's the way I see it. Polls are notorious for being biased in general. But, when all the national polls being conducted separately all pretty much read the same, it's time to pay attention. I remember last November that the Republicans were endlessly saying polls don't mean anything. Well, those polls all read the same, and those polls turned out to be very accurate about the mid-term results. Polls are only useful as an indicator in any case, not a crystal ball.

Answer 4

you have to remember that it is only polls and not an election so the information is probably correct as to the people polled but doesn't mean much. If you poll a predominantly black area you may have information that Obama is winning but if you went to New york you would hear Guilani was ahead and so on. In order to properly judge the information you have to know where the poll was taken and how many were polled or the results are meaningless

Answer 5

I don't think the polls really mean anything unless they poll 1000 people from each state. Then it would mean something. Just calling a random 1000 people means nothing because the candidates nomination relies on the results from within each state. It just gives them a basis to report on even though its meaningless.

Answer 6

Yea, us here that bother to look into politics might not be dumb enough to be swayed but look at the majority of people that get their nightly politics form the big news channels...they will believe it and will be influenced no doubt. Sad but true. Those are the same people that vote a name they've heard before too, ala Bush, Clinton...

Answer 7

They are definitely lying about Ron Paul only having 1%, he has ALOT more support than that. And I don't think Hilary's is as high as they're saying either.

Edit: I just looked at that site from the first answer and it proves it, Ron Paul is winning over EVERYONE. If they don't tamper with the votes at all, I predict Ron Paul will be our next president.

Answer 8

They lie, polls are bought. To claim some one is ahead in the polls is crap, we will know who is ahead on election day, and not before. It is just propaganda to make people think a certain person is more popular than another one. Like saying over and over, repeat, repeat makes people think some one is a favorite or more popular, sways people that are to dumb to make decisions on their own.

Answer 9

I don't put a lot of "stock" in the news media. They seem to be more about dividing our country than reporting accurate news.

Answer 10

If you really want to see disparities talk to people who have actually be deployed to Iraq. Compare that to what you've seen on ABC, NBC, CBS and CNN.