The polls appear to have become a problem. They used to be a fun concept to play with: tools for marketing, indicators for management, and as such, they were welcome in our lives. However, they are now being used as opinion makers, rather than opinion indicators. They tell us what to think. They manipulate opinion or at least subliminally tell us how to think or feel about issues. It seems that the polls are replacing individual thought.
The cart is clearly before the horse. The pollsters gleefully step into every phase of our lives. They tell us what we think, what we wear, what we eat, how we live, what we will buy, what we drive, etc., etc., etc. There is no end to it. What gets my goat is that no one ever asks my opinion. I am being spoken of and not spoken to. This system has now corrupted our politics. Our legislators vote the polls. The news media is constantly telling us of our support for President Clinton.We wonder, scratch our heads and go on with our lives, depressed because we do not understand how we could always be in the minority. How could so many people believe that way. Now the polls are starting to tell me what I do in my own bedroom. Their greatest advocate leads the way by saying, "Everyone does it." That is the final insult. I'm sorry, but everyone does not do it. I did not do it, and that disproves the contention. I am very irritated of them speaking of and for me and not to me. Let's face it, the polls are rigged. They are biased, they are wrong. They are corrupted by politics, media and/or all of the above.
Earl Pace
Salt Lake City