As I said in my article [Regardless, the polls won't matter] I am not convinced that any amount of science can be applied to politics and polling, yet there are many profitable firms that deign to know the heart of America.

The latest two polls from Gallup/USA Today prove my point. They both say the exact same thing. Nothing. The Friday-Sunday poll of likely voters shows McCain up by 4 points at 49% to Obama's 45%. The same poll was conducted of registered voters still has McCain trailing by 3 points with the split at 47% to 44%.

Again, this poll means and tells us nothing. No poll should even be thought to matter until one month after the Republican convention comes to a close in September. The American electorate needs time to digest the candidate's vice presidential running mates, finish watching the Olympics, and be really ready to focus on the November election.

Americans still don't know what they want because they haven't seen what the final model looks like and the big shows are still a month away.

Labels: 2008 Election, Barack Obama, John McCain, Polling

I could draw my explanation out, but regardless of who wins the Democratic nomination fight, and I still predict Sen. Barack Obama, the polls between the Democratic nominee and the John McCain will be close. They'll be close right through to election day.

I'm going to go out on a limb here and say it's because Clinton is a woman, because Obama is black and because McCain is old. Call me crazy, but it's going to be a battle of the lesser-risks for most Americans, and no poll regardless of the science or the sample behind it will ever accurately show what the actual electorate is thinking.

I get calls all the time, usually for free vacations or herbal supplements, but I think that polling is inherently flawed. Polling that takes place in a market research firm in front of a double-sided mirror isn't any more accurate, no matter how many cameras are recording the participants' reactions.

There are two things in life that have no science, love and politics. Any attempt to apply scientific methods to either yields nothing but enlarged egos and broken hearts.

Labels: 2008 Election, Barack Obama, Editorial, Hillary Clinton, John Edwards, John McCain, Politics Aside, Polling, Primary, Republican Party