It seems that every poll I see samples Dems in greater numbers than Republicans. Is there a reason for this other than to make Dems look stronger?
You are wise Grasshopper
.....that's exactly what their up ta...
Always look for Likely voters (LV) over Registered voters (RV)in those polls too. Likely voters are a more accurate pulse of what's happening...
Also pay attention to the timing the poll was taken. Weekends traditionally poll Democrats at much higher rates because the Republicans are out doing things on the weekends. If the polls are done during the weekdays the numbers for Obozo and Romney are usually closer.
Well there are a couple of reasons for it.
FIRST, party IDs are self-reported. So they tend to change -- if Republicans are popular more people will self-identify as Republicans, regardless of whether or not they register by party in a particular state. So it makes sense that there would be more self-reported Dems if polls show Obama ahead. I grant that it's weird and seems counter-intuitive.
SECOND, there are more "registered" Dems than GOPers in the country. As far as I know, this has always been the case. That may or may not have anything to do w/the party people tell pollsters they belong to. There are a bunch of reasons for the Dem registration advantage -- still a few conservative Southern Dems who now vote exclusively Republican, alienated Northern Catholics who still ID as Dems but often vote GOP, etc.
ALSO, we've seen a growth in the number of Independents, voters who often, as seems likely in November, skew Republican.
There are other ways to build polling structures that allow you to specify how many Republicans and Democrats you want of course.
In general there are always going to be more people reporting themselves to be Democrats than Republicans because, as it turns out, there are not equal numbers of Republicans and Democrats.
We are quite lucky to win the elections we do ~ sometimes we are hopelessly outnumbered.