One Big Happy by Rick Detorie for July 30, 2024

The problem with telephone polls is that they are not a true random selection. They are a selection of people who answer their phone and who are willing to answer the pollster’s questions. A self-selected subset like that can never be representative of the total population. Back in 1948, the Chicago Tribune infamously printed “Dewey Defeats Truman”, based partly on a huge telephone poll. The problem was that in 1948, telephone ownership was not randomly spread across the population, and the households that did have a phone tended to favor Republicans. So, Granny, go ahead and hang up, not because they’ll ignore your choices, but because your responses to a poll are essentially meaningless. The only opinion that really counts is the one you make on your ballot!

I wonder what she does to tele-marketers.

i love caller ID.

i’ve been bombarded with push-polls this season- every election year it gets worse. Careful reading or listening to the questions on these allegedly “non-partisan” or “independent” polls reveal the answers they’re aiming to get. Many are tuned to make anyone who gives answers other than the desired ones look like bomb-throwing terrorists or lunatics.

should be 3 questions. 1. What political “leaning” do you consider yourself? 2. Who are you voting for? 3. Why are you voting for them? Answers written down verbatim, ALL answers included as given. Let the computer run the numbers and publish the info. NO manipulation. IF not done that way the poll is a complete manipulation of the data for the propaganda of the person/group taking the poll. No abcd or 1234 answers. No "on a scale from…… " BUT truth in advertising is only achieved by honest people seeking honest opinions for honest reasons. Doesn’t ever happen in the political world which is ALL about power and money to control/misinform the populace. msho (mystupidhumbleopinion) js

It has happened to me several times. Polls are not accurate. Would a poll done in Chicago be the same as one done in Omaha? Not likely.

Jibe?

They usually end by saying, “Contribute your money!!!”

With our phone we have a landline, screens calls, they hang up.

Wife once phoned up our congressperson to voice her opinion on a certain topic. The aide who answered the phone said they’d be happy to send her information to better educate her on that topic so that she wouldn’t have such a dumb opinion.

If it’s a number I don’t recognize, I just don’t answer it.

I once got into a phone poll that was a deliberate smear campaign. The questions went something like, “Would you vote for Senator Snort if you knew that he liked to devour live puppies? Would you vote for Senator Snort if you found out that he likes to fire a gun wildly into the dark toward the screams of nuns and orphans?”

What, exactly, is the point of polls? Does anyone say ‘X percentage of other voters like a certain candidate so I must vote for that person, too?’ Or, ‘my candidate has no chance so why should I vote at all?’

Voting should be about the issues. And we should all vote in every election.