this post was submitted on 17 Jul 2024
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Polls are crap

It’s a little bit notable how they change over time, but mostly it is just a bunch of poor methodology noise

But, I do feel it’s relevant to point out that even in polling land Biden has been gaining for the last few weeks and it’s notable which media outlets are pretending it is the opposite of that (like severely the opposite) and to wonder why that is

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[–] [email protected] 181 points 3 months ago* (last edited 3 months ago) (6 children)

It is July. There is August, September and October.

Do not believe the polls! Prepare to VOTE! Tell others to VOTE!

There is no leaning back or relieve until November 5.

Do not believe the medias polls. Especially not Newsweek.

GO OUT AND VOTE!

[–] [email protected] 52 points 3 months ago

Just requested my absentee ballot yesterday.

If you can vote by mail, do it. Avoid the intimidation at the lines if you can.

But if you can't, go in groups. Take as long as necessary, do not be deterred

[–] [email protected] 44 points 3 months ago (1 children)

Just vote, doesn't matter the polls.

Oh but Biden / Trump has enough vote to win

So? Add another vote.

[–] [email protected] 21 points 3 months ago

Vote in numbers too large to manipulate.

[–] [email protected] 19 points 3 months ago
[–] [email protected] 10 points 3 months ago

Even if your presidential vote does not matter, you also vote for down ballot candidates. They are the ones that have the biggest influence on your life. Your state senator can write laws to protect you or harm you. Your town's sheriff gets to decide if your local police officer should be fired and who should be hired instead.

[–] [email protected] 6 points 3 months ago

Vermin Supreme 2024!

[–] [email protected] 3 points 3 months ago (1 children)

GO OUT AND VOTE!

I refuse to go out and vote.

Because I'm getting a mail-in ballot.

[–] [email protected] 7 points 3 months ago (1 children)

I would strongly suggest voting in-person if you happen to live in one of the swing states that has been clamping down on absentee ballots.

[–] [email protected] 3 points 3 months ago

Thankfully, I'm not. But that's good advice.

[–] [email protected] 72 points 3 months ago (1 children)

I live in a mostly Republican district that will inevitably vote Trump, I am still voting against Trump no matter what, regardless of what any polling says. American democracy as we know it ends if Trump wins

[–] [email protected] 57 points 3 months ago (1 children)

There's a fair possibility that lots of "mostly republican" districts are relying on voter apathy to stay mostly republican. Good on ya for doing your part!

[–] [email protected] 5 points 3 months ago

Don't forget the voter suppression efforts! Make sure you're registered, because the fascists are going to challenge as many as possible.

[–] [email protected] 50 points 3 months ago (1 children)
[–] [email protected] 2 points 3 months ago* (last edited 3 months ago)

Yup, only one thing affects his chances of winning, and that's voters in swing states. If all the ones that don't like him vote for Biden, he'll lose easily. If they don't, he has a good chance to win.

[–] [email protected] 35 points 3 months ago

Everyone that stays home or votes for Trump because Biden is too old, will be complicit in the ending of American Democracy and the deaths of thousands. Don't think it can't happen.

[–] [email protected] 30 points 3 months ago (2 children)

Why? Does he have some bad qualities?

[–] [email protected] 13 points 3 months ago (1 children)

Idk... someone asked him recently, and he could only rattle one off the top of his head.

[–] [email protected] 5 points 3 months ago

Jesus Christ

[–] [email protected] 2 points 3 months ago

No of course not. He's an angel who respects all people and the law.

[–] [email protected] 28 points 3 months ago* (last edited 3 months ago) (1 children)

There are about 5 polls that actually matter in this election.

Pennsylvania (whoever wins this will likely take all), Michigan, Arizona, Wisconsin, and Nevada.

Georgia, North Carolina, and Minnesota might matter but I don't see much chance of them voting Blue, Blue, or Red respectively.

Wherever you are, just go vote to make the House as blue as you can. Mark down the democratic nominee for president while you're there.

[–] [email protected] 4 points 3 months ago (2 children)

And even in those places, Trump supporters are known for not wanting to admit to pollsters that they support him, so they're not super reliable

[–] [email protected] 11 points 3 months ago (1 children)

On the other hand, Biden supporters are known for not answering phone calls from unknown numbers which makes them even less reliable.

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[–] [email protected] 4 points 3 months ago

That is one of 10 various reasons why the polls are not reliable in various directions

[–] [email protected] 19 points 3 months ago* (last edited 3 months ago) (2 children)

Trump's margins over President Joe Biden have narrowed since June in two key swing states: Florida and North Carolina

Florida is a swing state? Ha, good one!

[–] [email protected] 24 points 3 months ago (1 children)

Polls currently have it closer than it's been in a while. Biden might not win there, but more competitive battlegrounds means more voters, and more voters is good for democracy.

[–] [email protected] 28 points 3 months ago (5 children)

The anti abortion people figured this out 40 years ago, and they kept pushing for 40 years, and look they got their victory, against impossible odds.

The fairly normal things the left wants to do would be a lot easier to achieve if we could display the same level of stubbornness.

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[–] [email protected] 9 points 3 months ago* (last edited 3 months ago)

Lots of people are tired of culture war bullshit. Not the diehards, but the moderates. All they see are library book bans while their home insurance prices going up 5x.

[–] [email protected] 16 points 3 months ago (1 children)

I always believe that these articles are written by Republicans, in order to convince people that Biden doesn't need their vote.

[–] [email protected] 13 points 3 months ago* (last edited 3 months ago)

These headlines/news never reach republicans. We are in two complete different Internets.

These kind of "we got this, easy win, lol" polls and headlines are propaganda to make democrats feel "lazier" or not even "try at all", because they make a lot of them believe that "yeah, why go vote? Can stay home and enjoy it here. As you can see, we are going to easily win anyway. We don't need to try!..."

STOP FALLING FOR THESE HEADLINES, THEY SHOULDN'T EVEN EXIST

[–] [email protected] 12 points 3 months ago (2 children)

Gave up on FiveThirtyEight after 2016. Once again, it's all about turnout.

[–] [email protected] 10 points 3 months ago

2016 was what gave FiveThirtyEight credibility. They’d given the highest chance to Trump, IIRC, out of the aggregators.

[–] [email protected] 6 points 3 months ago (1 children)

If I am remembering correctly then fivethirtyeight gave him a ~33% chance of winning, which was absolutely within the realm of possibility

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[–] [email protected] 9 points 3 months ago

Obviously the only poll that matters is the actual election, and that's months away, and anything can happen, and everyone needs to do their part no matter what.

That said, I would expect Trump's numbers to slide a bit from time to time as we get closer to the election. The closer we get to November, the more we'll see independent and apathetic voters start to pay a little bit of attention, and there is just so much not to like with Trump. The MAGA-dominated GOP is incredibly myopic about how their views will be seen by the average American living outside the right wing echo chamber.

And as much as it would help them, I don't think Republicans will be able to pretend to be moderate or sensible, even for the sake of the election. There is a perverse incentive to be as extreme as possible in order to gain support from other extremists and win influence on the right, but that behavior drags the party as a whole down when it is seen by anyone who isn't already part of the base. For example, MTG gets national support and tons of media attention despite being a representative for a little rural district that no one gives a fuck about, all because she is a loud and controversial extremist. Anyone who moderates their tone or stops themselves from saying the quiet part out loud will lose influence to those who proudly proclaim their awfulness.

None of this is to say that victory is assured. Hell, I'm not even saying it's likely (nor am I saying that it's unlikely). I'm just saying that I think that there's good reason to expect Trump's poll numbers to dip from time to time.

[–] [email protected] 8 points 3 months ago* (last edited 3 months ago)

At the start of the year, I gave 95% odds that Trump would lose the election. So far, the biggest shake up has been the assassination attempt which didn't give him a boost in the polls. I think the polls showing Biden losing are flawed because those showing him doing so more than the margin of error have 18 to 20-somethings voting more for Trump. However, I also believe that the way the polls change can inform us about changes to the political climate. (Systematic sampling bias should still show changes that have a global effect in the intended dataset.)

Furthermore, Biden already won against Trump before Jan 6, which showed every single warning about him was true. Right now, our biggest threat is complicity and voter suppression. Register to vote, encourage other people to register to vote, call everyone online who tells you not to vote for Joe Biden a Russian Bot, and everyone in meat space whatever name will hurt them the most (traitor is a good one, fascist is another.) Register, organize, encourage, show up. Vote early if you can. I have arrangements with people in my area who are able to taxi people to their polling place for free; consider doing the same.

[–] [email protected] 7 points 3 months ago

Polls for a close race are never going to be great. That’s just how statistics works.

America is fairly split down the middle nationally, and winning or losing can come down to who gets people to turnout on election night in a couple purple states.

Even with Clinton V Trump, the polls were not wrong. They showed a close race, and 538 literally said that it was a 4 sided die roll with Trump on a side.

[–] [email protected] 3 points 3 months ago (2 children)

I only trust the casinos at this point. What are the current odds?

[–] [email protected] 6 points 3 months ago

Betus is giving 2:1 odds on the Democrat, I.e. they think the Democrats have a 33% chance to win.

[–] [email protected] 4 points 3 months ago (2 children)

Lol, although they're probably as accurate as any poll.

Casinos are only worried about the juice, they could care less about the outcome of a bet.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 3 months ago (1 children)

Honestly, casinos have a reason to try to get it right. When pollsters get it wrong nothing really happens. I more or less agree with the logic of just looking at the casino odds as as much of a thing to trust as anything else.

Also, it’s apparently illegal to bet on the presidential election in the US, which I didn’t know.

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[–] [email protected] 3 points 3 months ago* (last edited 3 months ago) (1 children)

Remind me what 538 was predicting the last time Trump won

Thanks for link! I'll save others a click:

[–] [email protected] 8 points 3 months ago* (last edited 3 months ago)

Site’s still up

Trump had a near 30% chance per their analysis, which is pretty significant

Edit: so yeah a higher chance this time wouldn’t be great

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