Polls Confuse The Issue

Is it just me, or has everybody had enough of dueling polls?

I know the polls we see daily are supposed to be 'scientific'. I know Zogby and Rasmussen and the rest work very hard at getting the adjustments right. I also know that we all seem to concentrate on the horserace instead of the stakes.



What if we had an election, and the pollsters didn't come? Imagine, if instead of thirty second candidate sound bites, followed by ten minutes of "poll analysis", you could here a candidate say more than two sentences on a newscast. Would you listen pay more attention to the candidate's words? Would the numbers we discuss be tax breaks and spending plans, instead of who's leading who where?

In the main, the polls tend to disagree and contradict each other, adding fodder to an already over excited national media. The polls become the news, and the candidates are reduced to soundbites. That's bad for us all.

Let's face it: We all want to be on the winning side, and polling data tends to herd the independents and undecided towards the candidate perceived to be leading. That muddies the waters of the election, and turns our most solemn duty as citizens into a football pool.

For the same reason that news organizations shouldn't call results until the polls close, opinion polls should be left to the campaigns, and opinions should be left to voters.