Political Polls
The modern political poll has changed the face of American government. In addition to the twenty-four hour news cycle, constant updates from a political poll allows politicians to stay on the verge of possible confrontation and displeased voters. Political polls are not always effective as much has been made about their ineffectiveness to gauge real public sentiment. The usage of political polls dates back to the early days of the American government, with local papers and individuals implementing straw polls. This practice failed to represent the future of the political poll, however, as every modern political team maintains a focus on the political poll and usually hires a pollster for at times, exorbitant fees.
- Many historians date back political polls to the contentious election between Andrew Jackson and John Quincy Adams. It was conducted as a straw poll which is much like a regular vote, but without it actually counting for anything. This was an interesting election for polls to be conducted due to the vast split in popularity between these two candidates. Andrew Jackson was commonly known as the people’s candidate, and although he claimed to be in line of a Jeffersonian Democrat, Jackson became the first American populist. It was said that even Jefferson dismissed him and his brand of politics. John Quincy Adams, on the other hand, represented the professional politician with his father having been the second president of the United States. The effectiveness of a straw pull as a viable political poll lacks credulity because the results will be based solely on who chooses to take the straw poll.
- Political polls continued as straw polls until Franklin Delano Roosevelt. In 1936, the sitting president was weary over some individuals running against him, or that were at least expected to. At this time, George Gallup conducted a different kind of poll that focused on demographics and scientific evaluation more than chance. Gallup would come to predict not only the 1936 election with his political poll, but his polling system would come to accurately predict several elections in the following years.
- In recent years, the political poll has become a science in which nearly every news outlet and political campaign utilizes. The historical Gallup poll has paved the way for an entire system of political polls, each used for a specific purpose to either gauge voter viability, or even opinion on a certain issue. This is not to suggest that the modern political poll is entirely objective, however, as a lot of the results hinge on the type of questions asked and chosen demographic.
The history of political polls took off by the middle of the twentieth century. Now, every election attracts numerous types of political polls, all claiming to be the most accurate. Individuals looking at a political poll should be weary of its source, because the ability to tweak results based on the types of questions and chosen demographic is entirely up to the pollster or news outlet.
