Can or do the polls influence voters?

[INdemo]

Depending on which poll you happen to pay attention to,some may vary as much as 10% or so..But do you suppose there are uninformed voters that actually look at a certain poll and decide"well it seems the majority favors that candidate so that's who I'll vote for"..That seems to be the idea that partisan pollsters have. (mostly GOP) They actually believe their finding influence the electorate..There just doesn't seem to be any real independent pollster's.

[Rude Horner]

1. I think there are plenty of

Joe Six-Packs who don't follow politics at all, and are extremely influenced by what the majority think. Or at least what the polls tell them that the majority think.

[SteppingRazor]

2. Sure... not all voters, but quite a few...

There's plenty of voters who will tilt whichever way the wind blows.

[Wickerman]

3. Yep, in the same way that people value movies, music and books

by their ranking on the "charts". Some folks will do whatever the majority is doing.

[Minnesota Libra]

4. Of course the polls influence people who can't or refuse to...........

....:banghead:think for themselves:wtf: People like that always want to be with the in-crowd so yes the polls would influence them.

Us, on the other hand, throw out the polls early on and make up our own minds based on what we are looking for in a candidate - not on what some fat ugly idiot tells us to look for.

[AndyTiedye]

10. Well, There Is Also The Problem of Figuring Out if Your Candidiate is…

…"electable". Polls certainly have an influence there.

[unpossibles]

5. my neighbor told me to say "yes they do"

:)

[GR]

6. Yes, Definitely...

Why do you think advertisers try to tout their products as the most popular, number one, the one recommended by fill in the blank celebraties/athletes.

Human beings like to feel they have company in their beliefs as that validates them...

That's why phony polls and phony news like Fox are so harmful...

[Igel]

7. Some. Hard to tell.

Polls influence voters directly.

Polls influence reporters and editors. Reporters influence voters. Newspaper folk from stringer to owner have their own point of view, but if the polls run counter to that, they still want to sell papers; if the polls are in keeping with their point of view, they do a much better job presenting it.

Just try to tell the difference.

[JordanLFW]

8. also indirectly

No respectable newspaper or media outlet will cover a candidate polling at 5%. Therefore they get less coverage, and voters hear less about them.

[AndyTiedye]

11. No Media Outlet Will Cover a Candidate With a "D" After their Name…

…except to bash them anyway.

[sutz12]

9. Absolutely...

IMO, this is how the Freepers got control. Polls indicated that they were of the "majority" opinion. Creative polls, I should say. ;)