---

       I wonder how many events are based on telephone polls. Apparently the poll callers use only what we usually call land lines. There are millions less “land lines” than a couple of decades ago so the number of possible respondents is greatly decreased. Most people drop their “land line” when they get their cell phones. I once heard an interview with a pollster saying they couldn’t call cell phones.

            The problem with being limited to “land lines” is the age, personalities, income, affiliations, beliefs, gender, and race are no longer the same as they were a few decades ago. The remaining people are less likely to answer the questions when asked. The polling programs have had to change to the new reality which sometimes gives good information and sometimes terrible information. National policies and campaigns are based on simple questions to complex problems. Often their questions are slanted in such a way that they get the answers they wanted.

            People give money to people wanting to win an election because the polls say they are ahead. Campaigners change their stances on topics because of polls.

            I used to be called quite often by a polling company who usually asked the same questions to see if my feeling on life in America was changing. Their last call was when I was cooking dinner and couldn’t take the ten minutes off to answer their questions, so they didn’t call back again. Too bad because I noticed my answers were moving more green and less tolerant of Republican Party catering to the Far Right.