>Most of the polls I hear about from the television, radio and
>newspapers. Somebody pays for them. The people with the most money
>can pay for the most polls. Many, many more than those with a little
>money. Are you sure that everybody with influence and authority in
>these polling processes is merely an independently self-sufficient
>or I mean moneyly independent social scientist ?
Well I wouldn't believe a poll the Tobacco Institute commissioned on smoking, or one Aetna commissioned on healthcare. I'm talking about the polls that come out of the big pollsters - Gallup, Harris, etc. These guys make some of their $ by doing market research for commercial interests, but their political polls are either internally funded or done for news organizations. I seriously doubt that Time/CNN is telling Gallup to spin their polls for W.
Doug