Who still has a landline? Seriously - this is a big variable that is never talked about.
Most of the people who I know still have their landlines. Taking personal calls on cell phones that drop calls is rude.
I cancelled my landline three years ago. Everybody in my household has their own cellphone so we saw no need for a landline. I do not think my household is unique in this. All the people that matter to me have my cellphone number. Everybody else that was calling the landline was either a telemarketer, a wrong number, or somebody I had no desire to speak to.
As for my cellphone, I only pick up the phone if I recognize the incoming number or if the incoming call is in my address book. Every other call goes to voicemail and 90% of the time, it is a hangup. Probably a telemarketer or a pollster!
Most people who disconnect their landlines in favor of cellphones are people on the go. The movers and shakers of the world, you might say. These people are just not being reached by pollsters.
I did away with mine. So far no telemarketers or pollsters on my cellphone, knock on wood. None of those inane robocalls either. Who ever thought those were a good idea. Somebody that would listen to a recorded message to make up thier mind is probably not smart enough to find the polling place anyway.
>>Who still has a landline?
I do because cell coverage sucks where I live. In fact, I’ve never lived anyplace where the cell coverage was good enough to ditch a land line, and that includes living in Silicon Valley. WA state? Nope. New Mexico? Nope. Rural and urban Connecticut? Nope.
Where do people live where they get such good coverage?
We still have a landline. We don’t have a cell in our area and even if we did, we’d still keep our pay-as-you-go cell phones because we refuse to get into a contract.
At any rate, we have caller ID and just don’t answer the phone when we get a political call or an ‘unknown’.
I have both a landline and a cell phone -- the landline is great for when the power goes out.
I also have an answering machine.
If someone I recognize leaves a message, they get a call back. Lately I've been getting a lot of calls that hang up (with a loud droning machine sound) once the answering machine answers.
Some might be trying to sell me a newspaper subscription (that's been true in the past) but I think given that it's election season, they're pollsters.
So among those registered voters with a landline, what is the party breakdown?