Posted on 09/30/2012 7:18:51 PM PDT by TChad
One of the most amazing — and significant — statistics of this election season has gone almost completely unnoticed: Only 9% of sampled households gave an answer to pollsters in 2012:
It has become increasingly difficult to contact potential respondents and to persuade them to participate. The percentage of households in a sample that are successfully interviewed – the response rate – has fallen dramatically. At Pew Research, the response rate of a typical telephone survey was 36% in 1997 and is just 9% today.
(Excerpt) Read more at pjmedia.com ...
That bodes very well for our side, as I think we represent a substantial majority among the “I don’t have the time for this” group.
I was watching a ‘Snapped’ rerun marathon when they called.
I really couldn’t be bothered
Mislead the pollsters!
Plus the “its none of your business” factor I believe is on our side as well.
We unplugged our home phone until after the election.
I get polled all the time, and I do get frustrated sometimes because the polls are many times worded to achieve a desired result.
Here is a typical example:
during bush’s term in office I would often get polled about the Iraq war.
The question usually went something like “do you approve or disapprove of President Bush’s handling of the Iraq war”
UGH!!
That is a freaking BOGUS poll! because it’s rigged! If I answer truefully that I don’t approve of Bush’s handling of the war, my answer will get lumped together with all the lib answers and be trumpted from the rooftops as proof we should end the war in Iraq!
When NOTHING could be further from the truth. I didn’t approve because I wanted him to nuke the SOB’s back into the stone age !!!! and thought we had no business putting soldiers in harms way, when we could kill them by the millions from 1,000 miles away or 30,000 feet with no risk.
So I was forced to lie and said I approved when I didn’t
Also the “Bradley Effect”
This time around no one wants to admit they won’t be assuaging their “racial guilt” and not vote for the black guy.
Enough is enough, reality bites.
DU will be so disappointed.
Who still has a landline? Seriously - this is a big variable that is never talked about.
Mislead the pollsters!
_____________________________________________________
Hear, hear! I have (202) numbers calling me three times a day......EVERY DAY. I don’t even bother answering.
A while back I got Robo-polled. I identified myself as a hispanic woman who is voting for Obama.
I monitor my phone. If I don’t know the person calling, its not answered.
Most of the people who I know still have their landlines. Taking personal calls on cell phones that drop calls is rude.
Booyah.....hitting the nail on the head.
No one trusts them, likes them, and those that do respond, based upon the sample (mainly Democrats), shows how out of touch polling really is.
Paul Ryan....and the other guy, will win.....easily.
I cancelled my landline three years ago. Everybody in my household has their own cellphone so we saw no need for a landline. I do not think my household is unique in this. All the people that matter to me have my cellphone number. Everybody else that was calling the landline was either a telemarketer, a wrong number, or somebody I had no desire to speak to.
As for my cellphone, I only pick up the phone if I recognize the incoming number or if the incoming call is in my address book. Every other call goes to voicemail and 90% of the time, it is a hangup. Probably a telemarketer or a pollster!
Most people who disconnect their landlines in favor of cellphones are people on the go. The movers and shakers of the world, you might say. These people are just not being reached by pollsters.
Me too!
I always say I’m voting for 0.
Very sensible. I'm in the national Do Not Call registry (https://www.donotcall.gov/) but I still get too many unwanted calls. A call from a pollster would definitely be an unwanted call.
I did away with mine. So far no telemarketers or pollsters on my cellphone, knock on wood. None of those inane robocalls either. Who ever thought those were a good idea. Somebody that would listen to a recorded message to make up thier mind is probably not smart enough to find the polling place anyway.
The polls are complete fraud!
Pray for America
>>Who still has a landline?
I do because cell coverage sucks where I live. In fact, I’ve never lived anyplace where the cell coverage was good enough to ditch a land line, and that includes living in Silicon Valley. WA state? Nope. New Mexico? Nope. Rural and urban Connecticut? Nope.
Where do people live where they get such good coverage?
Polls are just solid BS in 2012, they can say anything the pollster wants them to say, depending on how they “weight” the 9% who will even answer the damn surveys.
This doesn’t surprise me at all. We’ve all become more cautious.
I screen calls and, on the rare occasion when I do answer an unknown number and find a pollster or telemarketer, it’s a quick, “Sorry, I can’t help you.”
It’s only wishful thinking but I sooooo wish all the polls would prove horribly wrong and that Obama and the Dems would get plowed under on election night.
Then I could gleefully switch channels between Ed Schultz and Jeff Maddow while they self-destruct. Shultz only narrowly survived 2010. They should have an ambulance waiting just in case.
If Obama wins, I will be honestly mourning the death of the Free Republic of America.
I haven’t answered my land line in years. Only have it for the DSL
I haven’t answered my land line in years. Only have it for the DSL
and to call my cel when I can’t find it in the house.
Non-liberal, i.e. conservative states. I live in Alabama and coverage is excellent.
Your phone experience is identical to mine. No land phone, just cells.
bookmarked
Plus the “its none of your business” factor I believe is on our side as well.
That just goes to show that the pollsters are using a busted business model. People sitting at home by a landline are either the retired elderly or the out-of-work welfare people. People who are busy with jobs and on the go are basically unreachable by pollsters are by and large not Obama voters.
Funny, you use the term “movers and shakers.” That’s the line the Demonrats use - that they are the movers and shakers and the Republicans are the status quo. I still have a landline and use it. I’ve been polled 4 times and get calls every day. I quit answering. I even get calls from Organizing For America - obama’s camp. Hah, like I’d answer their poll anyway.
Same here, we haven’t had a land line in three years. Though, I can not ever remember being polled in any of the years we had a land line either. Which is odd seeing as we vote in every election not just presidential.
Caller ID is now FAR more widespread than it was in 08 and the move to smartphones and the dropping of landlines means that pretty much everyone under 50 will see who’s calling when they pick up their phone.
Unfortunately, DNC does not apply to political surveyors.
Political calls are not covered by the Do Not Call List........
I should have guessed.
Florida......
We still have a landline. We don’t have a cell in our area and even if we did, we’d still keep our pay-as-you-go cell phones because we refuse to get into a contract.
At any rate, we have caller ID and just don’t answer the phone when we get a political call or an ‘unknown’.
Cities, suburbs and flatlands.
I have both a landline and a cell phone -- the landline is great for when the power goes out.
I also have an answering machine.
If someone I recognize leaves a message, they get a call back. Lately I've been getting a lot of calls that hang up (with a loud droning machine sound) once the answering machine answers.
Some might be trying to sell me a newspaper subscription (that's been true in the past) but I think given that it's election season, they're pollsters.
So among those registered voters with a landline, what is the party breakdown?
That is because there are fare too many sales pitches masquerading as polls.
I had a land line in 2005 that was paid for by my landlord. I’d already been years on solely a cell phone. I was barraged with telemarketers when I wasn’t on dial up internet. I recently dumped my “bundle” I’d had for a year because cable is crap and my phone was useless. I got nothing but calls from creditors, robo calls from the local school, and pollsters. It was unplugged for most of the year while I got decent cable pricing. I hung up on the pollsters because the questions were obviously weighted. I had to bypass the affirmative action hiree, go over their head and threaten legal action to finally get the school robo calls to stop. I finally just unplugged the phone. Although I pretty much hate Verizon in general, being married to a pilot, it’s had the best nation wide coverage and their customer service has always been wonderful. It’s also a pleasant surprise when I get a voice mail notice and discover someone called me a week ago.
I live in VA, and the AG, Cucchinelli, has been getting lots of emails from me about the sales calls, but they haven't stopped. If he can stop these, I'll vote for him for governor.
I have tried to cooperate with pollsters. They all get the same answer...”Kiss my a..”.
If you have a cell phone, you will get calls from pollsters, telemarketers, politicians, etc. eventually. My wife has one and those calls went from none to just as many as on our land line. An answering machine does wonders for most of them as they generally just hang up when they get the answering machine response. We have advised all our friends and relatives not to caller id info block or if they do, leave a message. After a while you get used to the phone ringing and do not automatically run to answer it.
They get nothing from me. Caller ID is a boon.
I don’t know if I’d go that far. People who rely on and pay for cell phones over a large period are working, period.
it’s a quick, “Sorry, I can’t help you.”
I don't even bother with an apology. I just hang up.
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