[Grampa Dave]

There is another aspect of these polls that can't be studied.

I was retired during the 2000 elections. It was amazing how often I got calls from pollers during the time before the election.

Later when the data showed that GW would win (before the dead rat votes and illegal alien votes were counted), my interviews got really short.

It went something like this, "Are you a registered republican, democrat or independent?"

When I answered a registered Republican, the next question was often, "Would you describe yourself as a liberal, moderate or conservative Republican?"

After I answered "A conservative Republican." That was usually the end of the interview. I was never polled.

[Wolfstar]

Your personal experience is echoed in one way or another by many, many people. I think many of us are intuitively suspicious of polls, but we go along with them partly because we enjoy trying to predict the future, and partly because we're told they are "scientific."

Why is it that between the late 1700's and the mid 1900's, Americans managed to elect all sorts of people to all sorts of positions without polls? Yet these days, we seem more dependent on them than ever. We are like people using a crutch when it isn't necessary. Well, a good challenge every now and again never hurt any institution.