Is GOP Criticism Affecting Election Polling?

Americans Continue Rewarding Bad Behavior

By:  George Addison

Article first published as Is GOP Criticism Affecting Election Polling? on Technorati

“There is beauty in truth, even if it’s painful. Those who lie, twist life so that it looks tasty to the lazy, brilliant to the ignorant, and powerful to the weak. But lies only strengthen our defects. They don’t teach anything, help anything, fix anything or cure anything. Nor do they develop one’s character, one’s mind, one’s heart or one’s soul.”

― José N. Harris

As the 2012 presidential campaign enters the home stretch, things seem to be getting weirder and weirder. Take the recent GOP strategy to attack pollsters and their results. It was only a few weeks ago when Republican pundits, lead by FOX news, dismissed poll results, including their own, that showed President Obama leading Romney as inaccurate and unreliable.

But experts across the board say the complaints and poll bashing that imply media organizations are attempting to help President Obama win a second term are not grounded in any real sense.

Yet, when pundits and polls alike, indicated Romney had won the first presidential debate, despite being non factual and in some cases outright dishonest, they were aggressively pushing the results as a game changer.

Romney continues making dishonest claims as he uses vague and general overtures when describing his foreign policy to students at the Virginia Military Institute. Recent PEW polling is showing him in a revitalized lead over the president 49 to 45 percent. What does he have to lose? Why would he be honest during this home stretch finish if voters were willing to reward such disrespectful and blatant behavior merely because he showed an aggressive posture during the debate?

It makes you wonder if integrity, honesty and values are more than just slogans in an ad playing on a television or radio in your hometown?

By definition, polls are an inquiry into public opinion conducted by interviewing a random sample of people, and this campaign season is giving this practice a dirty name. Polls will likely become more contentious as Election Day draws nearer with Democrats and Republicans each pushing for the slightest of margins.

Besieged by negative ads and mediocre enthusiasm, Americans have never faced a more difficult election with such serious and overwhelmingly complex issues that have both immediate and long-term consequences for the U.S. and the world.

Its time to truly consider just how credible elections will remain if money and questions over facts and polling continue to plague the perception of a fair and unimpeded democratic election process. This comes at a time when many voters value style over substance and corporate influence is redefining what democracy means in America’s changing society.