The State of Polls

Political polling is a necessary evil. It's not an exact science (although it tries to be one!), and a great deal of them play footsy with their polling questions and demographic percentages/breakdowns. But this makes me laugh: NBC concerned about their polls. Specifically, this line has me laughing, from NBC's Chuck Todd on the Nightly News:

"Now this has taken a hit on the president politically...A more important number that our pollsters say is in there is this idea that is this a long-term setback for him or a short-term one? 54-percent said long-term. Our pollsters are concerned. That’s kind of numbers you have when the public starts to give up on a president as a problem solver..." (emphasis mine)

Why am I laughing? Because the pollsters that NBC employs shouldn't be "concerned." It's not their job to care one way or the other. Their job is to figure out what the public does or does not want. By showing "concern," they are actually taking sides in the polling. By showing "concern," they are also leaving readers room to question just how much they are trying to protect the answers that they are concerned about, in their polling system. In this case, they can't hide the fact that America thinks Obama's done a shitty job, so far. That's why they're concerned. Dear NBC: you just beclowned yourself.

And that's the problem with polls, people. Generally they're good, but they can be messed with, especially for political reasons. So the next time you see a poll that shows wildly out of the ordinary percentages- go look at their samplings, and who's commissioning it. And maybe you'll find reasons to laugh as much as I have.