Thursday, July 19, 2007
Polling 4 You
Posted by Jeff Woods on Thu, Jul 19, 2007 at 1:47 PM
Channel 4 is going to report the results of its new poll on the mayor's race tonight, and the campaigns are buzzing with speculation about it. Channel 4 is teasing the results as surprising. It'd be nice if it's remotely accurate, too.
That last poll by Channel 4--the only independent poll conducted on the campaign--was worthless. First, they hired not a political pollster but a TV audience research firm to do the poll. Then they were too cheap to buy a voter file. So they just random-dialed everybody and polled a bunch of people who aren't going to vote and haven't given any thought to the candidates. That's how they wound up with 51 percent undecided.
If they did that again this time, it'll be outrageously irresponsible. The release of a poll this close to election day, even one with obviously bogus results, might influence the outcome.
That last poll by Channel 4--the only independent poll conducted on the campaign--was worthless. First, they hired not a political pollster but a TV audience research firm to do the poll. Then they were too cheap to buy a voter file. So they just random-dialed everybody and polled a bunch of people who aren't going to vote and haven't given any thought to the candidates. That's how they wound up with 51 percent undecided.
If they did that again this time, it'll be outrageously irresponsible. The release of a poll this close to election day, even one with obviously bogus results, might influence the outcome.
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