The cell phone issue

[Doctor Jack]

I don't want to be one of these "the polls are skewed" people, because it sounds desperate (although Obama is winning right now so maybe it isn't that desperate), however, this cellphone only issue has me wondering. I was reading an article t the Huffington post and it mentioned that nearly half of voters in Ohio don't use landlines anymore. However, most pollsters in Ohio right now are only polling landline phones. And this is the case all over the country. The pollsters that are touted by the media, like Gallup and PPP only poll landlines. And it does seem that those pollsters that poll cellphones are showing a much different race.

How can these polls be representative of the electorate, if half of voters are off the pollsters radars? Of course these are younger voters, who would lean democratic. So it seems that we have polls that are over sampling older, conservative voters while completely ignoring younger, liberal voters.

I don't want to use this as an opportunity to say I am right and Obama is actually way ahead, instead I am more interested in someone telling me why I am wrong. I am no polling expert but it seems to me that something is amiss here. How can this cellphone issue not be an issue?

[smorkingapple]

1. Gallup does use cell phones... I think PPP does too, Rasmussen does not..

Check their websites..

[BraKez2]

3. PPP is landline only...

[LonePirate]

4. I was polled several months ago by Rasmussen and I only have a cell phone

So, Ras includes cell phones, even if unintentionally.

[RoccoR5955]

2. The cellphone is not an issue

because they don't want to make it an issue. YET... They know that Obama is leading. It's going to be a landslide, because the more forward thinking people are using cell phones, and not land lines. Most of these folks will vote for Obama, and it will be a tremendous story, surely to create network views, and ad revenue. They have to keep the election a horse race, because they get paid for political commercials. They create stories that will get more eyes on their network, so they can sell more commercials. It's a cycle.
This is a new thing since the Citizens United thing, so this is the thing that will prove that most of the pollsters and the MSM is only out for one thing, and that's profit at any means.

[potatoslayer]

5. There's something even more that's not collected

I am a staunch liberal.

I don't have a cell phone or a landline. I use Google Voice!!!! And the robocalls can't get through it. So what does that tell you? And it's getting more and more prevalant.

I'm sure there aren't a lot of old senior Republicans who would have this kind of setup.

[Comrade_McKenzie]

6. Many households share landlines, but not neccesarily the same politics. nt

[DemocratSinceBirth]

7. Gallup Polls Cell Phone Users. Rasmussen And PPP Does Not.

[Doctor Jack]

10. You're right

Gallup just has very shitting methodology for their lv polls

[Doctor Jack]

8. Nate silver had an article about this about a month ago

Post convention polls that were landlines only showed the race just about tied, while polls that included cellphones had Obama up by nearly 5 points. It does seem today, however, the narrative being driven by the media is from these landline only polls showing Romney up by 2 or 3. It does make you wonder if the polls that show Obama up by 3 and those that show Romney up by 2 are actually not showing volatility in the pols but instead it is landline only vs. Cellphone polls

[LibGranny]

9. My husband and I are both retired, both have cellphones and the house has it's own phone!

I've only ever been polled on the landline - never on my cell and he's never been polled on his cell! I'm hoping there's something to this! Some in my family only have cell phones and they've never been polled either!

[Doctor Jack]

11. I know two people with landlines

One of my gradmas(the other one has a cellphone) and my 60 year old aunt who would probably fit in better in 1920 than 2012. Beyond that, I can't name a single friend, family member, or business associate that has a landline at home.