Public Opinion Polls are obsolete. Give me facts. If you rely on public opinion polls to judge the performance of elected officials, you need to read this article.
Public Opinion Polls
These days people rely on a system of information whose time has come. When I see these public opinion polls, I ask, who are these people answering them?
People today are wary of calls from unknown numbers. My phone has an app that blocks phone numbers tagged as scams.
Pollsters sometimes call from numbers that appear as scam numbers. This can happen when the phone number was used by a scammer once. And because of this, the number is tagged as a scam.
I do not answer them. Nor do I respond to text messages claiming to be from polling services. So how do pollsters get those incredible numbers? Let’s find out.
Public Opinion Polls: Answering The Call
Obviously, some people answer the phone when it rings, not knowing or recognizing the caller. So, let’s say you are a person that believes in polls. And if you like taking them, then maybe you can answer the following questions about them.
- Do you know how many people the pollster called?
- Does the survey show the locations called?
- How many are staunch Republicans or Democrats?
- How many are not associated with any party?
- Were any of those polled registered voters?
- If so, how many voted in the last mayoral or presidential election?
These are just a few of the questions you should be asking yourself.
Next time you hear someone is doing good or bad in the polls, ask yourself the above questions. If the report cannot answer those questions, then question the survey.
When I followed polls long ago in my twenties, I asked these same questions. Sometimes I would find some of the answers, but as time passed, I realized that polls can be manipulated.
Manipulating The Public Opinion Poll
He Who Has The Gold Makes The Rules
What does that have to do with polls? If you are the person running the survey, you can shape it any way you want.
The polling service controls where they call and how many people they call. They also shape the questions.
Consider these questions and answer them the best you can.
- Would you agree that so and so is doing a terrible job?
- Or do you agree that so and so could do a better job?
- Would you not agree that so and so could do a better job? These sets of questions are leading questions. I narrowed your choices for you; only you may not know it.
A question shaped in this way is more of a suggestion. By saying, wouldn’t you agree instead of what is your opinion of? I have already steered you in a particular direction.
Polls: The First 100 Days
I forget where I heard the why or how of the one-hundred-day benchmark. But I do remember that it is arbitrary. Nonetheless, the media and others put too much stock in it to measure one’s performance. Yet, another reason to forego polls and do your research.
Repairing The Damage Done
One of the failures of opinion polls is questioning how a person resolves a problem they did not create, but must now fix.
Have you ever taken on the task of correcting another person’s mess? And how long did it take to correct it? A rule of thumb says it will take at least the same timeframe to fix something as it took to create the mess. More if the damage is severe.
Take, for example, the separation of immigrant children from their parents. It will take years or decades to repair the damage done. If it is possible at all. But somehow Biden must correct the rampant damage that Trump created.
The same applies to crime. Crime did not start when Mayor Adams took office. It has been on the rise for decades. But those that controlled the stats control the reports. 100 days, be real.
Do Your Own Research
My take on polls is this. We do not need them. Their time has passed, and we must turn to other sources for information. Too often, we rely on others to supply answers that we can find on our own. Just make sure to double or triple-check the source. Do like the news agencies do and verify what you have heard.
I prefer to judge a person on what they have or have not done. Show me where you intend to go from where you are. And from that, I will judge your performance and decide what my actions will be. Keep track of how a person is doing, write down how you feel about their actions, and rate it.
Polls are just opinions. Everyone has one, and this is mine. Now form yours.
Final Thought
Lets have an election without polls and attack ads.
How about we elect a person because we researched them and decided on their record whether to elect them or not? Wow, what a concept. ?
Checking Phone Numbers
I stated earlier that my phone blocks scam calls. But what do you do if the call is not tagged? How do I know these are scam numbers?
One method is to enter the number in your web browser or use a service that checks phone numbers. There are plenty of them online. Some are free to use. When I got a text from a supposed survey company, I looked up the number online. It turned out to be a scam. To verify that this was not an error, I used a different service that lists spam and scam numbers. They too list the number as belonging to a scammer.
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Number Guru Reverse Phone Lookup
One of the websites I use this site to check on numbers and area codes. There are phone numbers from other countries that resemble numbers in America. When in doubt, check them out.
Area Code Help.com
This site is no longer active. Try searching for websites that verify phone numbers.
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