3 ms·

Not hating on FiveThirtyEight for the interesting work they do--and I understand that covering this angle of things is their main purpose--but I can't help but

Not hating on FiveThirtyEight for the interesting work they do--and I understand that covering this angle of things is their main purpose--but I can't help but feel that the intense focus on poll numbers by the media throughout the entire race is upside-down. The poll that matters is on November 8th and we'll all get the chance to participate in it. Until then, maybe we should focus on informing ourselves about the candidates and the issues, and less on who's winning the rat race each morning.

toyg 10y ago
But it's not a poll, it's a race with weird rules. Polls are a huge part of that race: if you are winning state X by double-digit margins, there is no point in flying there to campaign; whereas the swing state where you're down by 1% needs ad-hoc policy announcements and lots of time spent on the ground. Paying attention to the polls will often tell you where a candidate will stand on certain issues, so it's part of the whole "understanding" bit.