The Danger of Polling

I am not a fan of The New Yorker, but occasionally there are items worth sharing within its pages. An article they published on polling by Jill Lepore is both interesting and disturbing in light of how much we are relying on political polling this election cycle.

I’m intrigued with polls like any political junkie, but are we relying too much upon them?

I would say definitely yes, and it is harmful to the electoral process.

Consider our debates for instance, all of the Republican debates are based on national polling. You also have the rise of Donald Trump in the polls which drove the news which then drove polling and on and on. Now we see the same pattern with Ben Carson.

Some thoughts…

1. Vet the candidates yourself. The media is doing you a disservice by focusing their attention to those who are leading the polls. Don’t be a low information voter.
2. Determining electability based on current polling, especially national polling is foolish.
3. Basing your vote on polling is even more foolish. Christians should base their vote on principles and a candidate’s record based on those principles first and foremost.
4. The Republican Party needs to stop the foolishness of using national polling as debate criteria. We don’t have a national primary and the likelihood the polling is accurate is questionable anyway.

Cross-post.