The 500

I was called the other day by a robo-poll to our landline home phone. The bot on the other end asked for my preferences in three Georgia races -- gubernatorial, U.S. Senate, and my congressional representative. You can see the results here.

So I was one of those 500 "likely" voters, although I wasn't asked any screening questions (how likely are you to vote, etc.). I only know this is "my" poll because who the else is going to survey about our House race, which is a foregone conclusion? Right day, right questions. I'm one of 500, and perhaps my phone was selected from a list of previous voters. That's not unusual, to draw names from voting lists.

Here's my bitch -- the polling firm at the end of a survey should tell you who sponsored or conducted the poll. Landmark did not. It simply ended. A polling firm should identify itself or the sponsor, almost always at the end so as not to bias the results, or at least provide you with a way to find out who just asked you a fairly personal question -- who you're gonna vote for.

And remember, robo-polls suck. They skew old, white, conservative. News organizations should simply refuse to report the results of such polls, given their lack of quality control.