Following the Polls: Don't You Believe Them

I follow the political polls for presidency as if I am following stock on the Dow. Both are interesting and entertaining but do they really tell the true story of what's going on?

The HILL (via Political Wire) makes an interesting note that with the widespread use of cellphones, telephone polling may be a thing of the past:

Legal restrictions are preventing political pollsters from reaching millions of Americans this election cycle because they rely exclusively on cell phones, according to pollsters and other election observers.

The inability to reach such voters, mainly young people, is contributing to the growing perception that phone surveys are skewed and inaccurate and should become a thing of the past, they argue.

Zogby on the cellphone problem:

Shawnta Wolcott, director of communications for Zogby International, which reaches voters by telephone as well as the Internet, conceded that the cell-phone-only crowd is affecting pollsters’ ability to reach voters.

“We acknowledge it is a problem, but it has not compromised the quality of our polls at all,” Wolcott said. “It has affected the way we reach respondents across the board because we only call those with listed numbers, so in response we just stay on the phones a little longer and keep calling people back.”

While it's estimated that only 5% of the electorate is affected, I do know that at least two of the bloggers at 2GL fall within this unaccounted for minority. So if you're not being called by the pollsters, you're not the only one.