Are ONLINE polls more trustworthy than CNN/Gallup, ABC/WP,IBD, WSJ?

I have posted numerous times on this topic recently.

I no longer trust several of the above-mentioned Bush media "scientific" polls which show Bush ahead or tied. They are clearly biased towards Bush. How can they not be, after all that as taken place over the last few months to expose Bush's failures? Not that it is news to DUers, but these are now mainstream.

The online polls are NOT scientific. Yes, they can be freeped. But for the most part, they have consistently reflected a tremendous anti-Bush sentiment, and are much more in line with what we all feel intuitively.

WE KNOW lifelong Repubs are leaving Bush.
WE KNOW the Dems are united and energized.
WE KNOW demographic trends are moving toward the Democratic majority.
WE KNOW Gore won by at least several million votes, had 5 million or more voters not seen their votes spoiled or were disenfranchised from getting to the polls.

I believe that all the evidence indicates Kerry will win this thing in a landslide. But the whores want to keep it close. They are lying to maintain this fiction of a close election.

But is that anything new? Lying is their job. Lying for Bush. Pouring teflon on him. Destroying our democracy.

LOOK AT TODAYS MSNBC POLL. EIGHTY-THREE THOUSAND ONLINE VOTES AND KERRY IS WAY IN FRONT. I KNOW HIS PERCENTAGE LEAD OF 22% IS INFLATED. SURELY IT IS MUCH CLOSER THAN THAT. BUT KERRY IS WINNING. AND ITS NOT CLOSE. I SAY HE WINS WITH 55%.

END OF RANT. NOW GO VOTE.

http://msnbc.msn.com/id/4917656
If the presidential election were held this week, who would you vote for?
* 83702 responses

George W. Bush 37%
John Kerry 59%
Ralph Nader 3%

Shapes the question of the polls to get the results they want.

have you ever participated in one of these things? I have been polled several times by pollsters large and small...without fail, there is bias in the way the questions are asked.

theProdigal

on edit : but online polls have a poor sampling model and therefor are less indicative of the population in general

I KNOW ONLINE POLLS DO NOT REFLECT THE POPULATION. I KNOW THEY ARE NOT SCIENTIFIC. I AM VERY FAMILIAR WITH POLLS. THAT IS NOT MY POINT.

MY POINT IS THAT KERRY IS AHEAD. NOT TIED. THE POLLS I TRUST, LIKE ZOGBY, PEW, NEWSWEEK ALL AGREE.

THE OTHERS ARE BIASED FOR BUSH. I AM CONVINCED OF THAT AFTER WATCHING THEM CLOSELY SINCE 2000.

Online polls are not at all reliable, they are essentially meaningless. Their samples are neither random nor representative. How do you know that the major polls are biased for Bush? Have you studied their methodology? how their samples were selected? the questions asked? Have you double checked their math? or do you just not like the result?

The mainstrem polls are certainly not perfect, but they are showing the general trends:
http://www.radiofreemonkey.com:8080/charts/img_bush_approval.gif

Obviously, an online poll only reflects those who bother to respond and probably reflects the bias of the site itself. Would you expect a poll of FoxNews viewers to be anything but favorable to the junta?

Second, it should be no surprise that scientific polls show Bush doing better than you or I believe he should be doing in a population of rational and informed citizens. The Los Angeles Times poll taken last month showed that overwhelming numbers of Americans believe that Saddam possessed WMDs, that Saddam had associations with Osama and even that evidence of these propositions had been found.


Of course Bush is doing better than he should in a population of informed citizens. What this poll shows is that Americans have been badly informed. The Times poll also showed that those who believe these falsehoods favor Bush by a wide margin and those who know the facts overwhelmingly favor Kerry. I know that sounds loaded, but there is no other way to characterize it.

Consequently, I do believe these polls. They show something disturbing: that Americans are misinformed and, among those who are misinformed, support for the liar who propagates the misinformation is heavy.

The good news is that this should make it easy for Kerry to formulate a strategy: Just get the facts out.