Opinion Polls and the Primaries: Story on NewsHour

In case you were watching the Cubs game (boo hoo hoo), the NewsHour ran an interesting story about opinion polls, focusing on their role in the primary campaigns.

Excerpts:

SUSAN PINKUS: A lot of times, media polling, if it shows that a candidate is not doing that well, it might, hurt them getting money for their campaign, but that's the name of the game.

<snip>

TERENCE SMITH: But what impact will statewide media surveys have in the fishbowl of primary campaigning? Do news organizations, in effect, become part of the story through their polling?

DAVID LIGHTMAN: That is a huge problem, and its gonna become even bigger as we get closer and closer to the primary season. Because lets face it, polls create momentum.

<snip>

DAVID LIGHTMAN: As you get closer to the Iowa caucus on January 19, the polls on January 14, 15, 16, 17, are going to matter. People are gonna say, "oh my gosh, candidate X is in fifth place," and so reporters like me may say well, gee, we don't follow candidate X today, we'll follow the front runner and number two, that kind of thing. The very things that give our polls credibility also make us players, and we really don't want to be players, so it's a real problem.