General Discussion
Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsIs anybody else tuning out the gloom and doom poll people.
Im retired and watch a lot of tv.
Mostly movies, sports, and politics (mostly MSNBC).
So, its unusual for me not to watch any political shows.
But, Im not. I especially cant stand to see khaki pants boy smiling like a Cheshire Cat at his magic board while gloating that his Republicans will flip both houses.
So, to save my blood pressure from going thru the roof, I dont even go there anymore.
I do my political post cards while watching movies and will door knock this weekend.
Then, on November 8th about 7pm, I will log on to DU to monitor the results.
Just wondering if Im the only one doing this.
BigmanPigman
(51,609 posts)As as I hear the word "poll" I change the channel or "mute" it. Polls are BS and it is best to ignore them if you want to maintain your sanity.
GenThePerservering
(1,824 posts)because many polls have poor methodology. I also think they're used to try to affect election results as much as this purported 'information' which, in fact, is no information.
And you're spending your time far more fruitfully actually DOING something positive!
LakeArenal
(28,820 posts)pstokely
(10,528 posts)Last edited Thu Nov 3, 2022, 02:32 AM - Edit history (1)
many pollsters (and the corporate media) seldom mention polling has been increasingly difficult
HubertHeaver
(2,522 posts)Their polls are skewed by their outdated assumptions.
Prairie_Seagull
(3,326 posts)Due to the fact that many if not most no longer have land lines and do not answer their phones if they do not recognize the name on the caller ID. They text more than they talk on the phone anyway. Question would be at what age does this generally cease. 40 maybe. So maybe it's not just youth. Maybe polls under-represent a very large swath of the American electorate in general.
One argument could be that youth don't vote in great numbers in general anyway. In my discussions with my own daughters (ages 27,29) about voting, they indicate that they are hearing in their own friends a political seriousness they have not heard before. Will this translate to more voting? Seems to me it will.
Because of the nature of polling these days and the above.
I believe the polls are way off.
The media always wants to make it seem like an even horse race.
Keep remotes handy.
lindysalsagal
(20,692 posts)Lucinda
(31,170 posts)Polybius
(15,428 posts)He just doesn't talk about it. He's very good at his job and wants to remain non-partisan.
Funtatlaguy
(10,878 posts)he is a Log Cabin Republican.
Polly Hennessey
(6,799 posts)I remember him from the early days. He started out writing for an obscure paper or weekly and leaned Republican/Libertarian. Anyway, something like that but never a Democrat. Also, said he likes hot dogs and khaki pants. Has tended to be on the negative side?
calimary
(81,310 posts)On steroids.
Cant deal with the waving arms and wild gesticulating, the arms sweeping across the graphics and the numbers hes telling you about but his maniacal pointing wont let you SEE! His damn hands poking in and out, hack and forth across whatever hes supposedly explaining.
For the love of Mike, switch to decaf, dude! Or light up a doob. Or SOMETHING!
Geechie
(865 posts)and hit mute or change the channel (the analog to scrolling past)
usonian
(9,813 posts)I get all my mostly political news leads from DU and ignore all the Debbie Downers, and in fact, post GOTV pages and other positive encouragements. There's nothing like doing something positive to make you forget the doom and gloom crowd. They aren't helping you. They're working on some contract renewal, or subconsciously working out some guilt for not taking action.
SHUT OFF THE TV.
I am listening to Beethoven's Sonata #31 and am using an ancient ipod with the WMHT app to get music right now, via wi-fi.
When I am not fixing things or straightening the house and yard (7 acres of what used to be a lot of brush), there's always piano to practice and photos to take (the brush I cleared was hiding hundreds of gorgeous manzanitas), wildflowers much of the year, and there are sunrises and sunsets.
I have only accidentally, for less than a minute, seen or heard the orange Oompah Loompah EVER.
Note that the exercise of hiking, observing nature, classical music and avoidance of hideous sights and sounds are all heart-savers and life-extenders.
Call all your good friends, urge them to vote. Getting out the vote is the key to winning, and it's the simplest thing to do. And if you run into a so-called friend who believes the magat philosophy, you have gotten rid of a useless zit on the proverbial backside. BUT DO REMIND REPUB FRIENDS TO VOTE IN PERSON, WEDNESDAY NOVEMBER 9th.
https://democraticunderground.com/100217258988 (memes!)
The space lasers will be turned off Tuesday night.
Fill your life with music and flowers (I'll send photos to get your attention away from TV, if that will work for you) and take positive actions.
GOTV stuff:
https://democraticunderground.com/100217211502
California. Let's gain 5 house seats.
https://democraticunderground.com/100217194350
Wednesday's awesome action list:
https://democraticunderground.com/100217276427
Consider this:
CALL, TEXT, EMAIL YOUR GOOD FRIENDS
Thanks to jxla for the tip.
Friends Ask Friends to Vote
https://www.aclu.org/news/voting-rights/midterms-friends-ask-friends-to-vote
First, make a list of your people: friends, family, and community groups you are a part of; people you see regularly; and people you work with. Next, identify who on that list aligns with our ACLU values, but may not always vote. Then, let them know theres an important election coming up and help them make a plan to vote (when, where, and how). Call them if you usually call them, text them if you typically text them, or talk to them when you see them next. Well also provide you with a conversation guide
Download the ACLU Midterm Conversation Guide https://www.aclu.org/wp-content/themes/aclu-wp/frontend/bundles/midterms/assets/files/aclu-conversation-guide.pdf
yankee87
(2,173 posts)Polls are so bad now. No one answers phones now. Also Qpublicans flooding the news with BS polls. Always turn them off now.
Bev54
(10,053 posts)SlimJimmy
(3,180 posts)Just like they have no real meaning two months before an election, or they're using "registered" voters or "adults." I take them all with a grain of salt now.
vercetti2021
(10,156 posts)I've tuned it out.
calimary
(81,310 posts)Husband dug up Dinotopia and thats what were enjoying at the moment.
usonian
(9,813 posts)They are WORTHLESS.
pnwmom
(108,980 posts)The polls unfortunately couldn't account for the electoral college, but the electoral college won't be a factor for this off-year election.
There are other reasons to distrust polls this year, but not because of the performance in 2016
StevieM
(10,500 posts)pnwmom
(108,980 posts)StevieM
(10,500 posts)I don't focus too much on the impact of the third party candidates, though. Without Comey's repeated interference, she would have destroyed Trump. What he did made that election illegitimate.
pnwmom
(108,980 posts)that went to her was one less vote for the only progressive who could win. And she let herself be Putin's puppet.
Comey didn't have progressive values. He didn't betray anyone who shared his basic beliefs.
Just_Vote_Dem
(2,808 posts)Yeesh
Response to pnwmom (Reply #22)
Celerity This message was self-deleted by its author.
lindysalsagal
(20,692 posts)would be relinquished to nothing more than an amendment approval board. Their votes would be too small to effect any legislation other than the 2/3 for amendments. That I'd like to see in my lifetime. We wouldn't have to endure all of this drama.
StevieM
(10,500 posts)PortTack
(32,774 posts)Useful as the 1950s weather mans forecasts. Seriously..oh the sky is blue..gonna be sunny, but take your umbrella it rains this time of year.
AdamGG
(1,292 posts)I posted a thread in here when that site first put the Democrats at a >50% chance of holding the Senate and I followed along pretty much daily as it climbed to 72%. I'm not going to stick my head in the sand now that the the polling looks less promising, but a supposedly tightened race is even MORE of a reason to turn out and I hope all reasonable people see it that way.
If I lived in Georgia, a poll saying that Herschel Walker could possibly win would have me running hair on fire to turn in my ballot. ALL the polls said that the anti abortion ballot measure in Kansas was going to pass in August and we see how that turned out. It comes down to turnout.
Hekate
(90,714 posts)Reading down the post titles at DU is an exercise in doom-scrolling these days, every emotion flapping in the wind with each new poll.
To hell with it.
claudette
(3,578 posts)Remember those mail in ballots count later
2naSalit
(86,646 posts)Some states count them first and don't separate them from in-person in the Tuesday tally.
SuperCoder
(300 posts)Voters decide the elections. Not polls.
And yes all the polls this year against dems are total junk and completely underestimate the number of women who are pissed off against the Supreme Clown Court for turning this country back 50 years.
Time to vote out the republican trash.
RockRaven
(14,972 posts)Vote. Encourage everyone to vote. Help everyone vote who needs help (assuming such help is legal). That's it. The horse race watching is bullshit. The outcome is the same whether you are watching watching or not.
Scrivener7
(50,955 posts)polls, don't be bashing your fellow Democrats, whether they approach the information coming out the same way you do or not, and hope for the best.
I'm with you!
PlanetBev
(4,104 posts)The pundits and their polls play with your head like a kitten plays with a ball of yarn.
AKwannabe
(5,661 posts)Polls = useless
BadgerMom
(2,771 posts)SheltieLover
(57,073 posts)raccoon
(31,111 posts)Kaleva
(36,309 posts)People who apparently watch a great deal of cable news report back on the latest polls and what the talking heads are saying.
ananda
(28,866 posts)!
snowybirdie
(5,229 posts)Both on tv and in postings. Ya gotta stay positive!
brooklynite
(94,594 posts)I don't watch endless hours of cable news and opinion shows. But neither do I ignore data that becomes available to understand what might happen. But neither do I obsess about the minutiae of each poll that I look at. I take in a lot of data from different sources (whom I don't discount as biased when I don't like the results) and assemble as broadly accurate an analysis as possible.