They are doing this for 3 reasons:
1. Attempting to suppress the Romney soft vote.
2. Attempting to keep their base in line. Thanks #2.
3. Attempting to keep the money coming in. This is a big one. If the real polling was out there, the Obama money machine would dry up big time.
The meme that Romney’s losing also prevents donations from going to Romney and possibly switches donors from Romney to Obama. Because the people with the real money care less about who wins and care more about making cronies out of the winner.
If the polls are being skewed intentionally, then I believe it is ALL about influencing donations, and not about trying to influence the psychology of voters directly. Big money donors are the only voters who really count to these guys. And they’re voting with their wallets NOW, not on election day.