Silver used the Gallup poll data and other polls' data to extrapoloate the likely election day outcome. The polls did not extrapolate. This is a fundamental d

Silver used the Gallup poll data and other polls' data to extrapoloate the likely election day outcome. The polls did not extrapolate. This is a fundamental disconnect between nerdsters and pollsters. Nerdsters believe that polls are intended to predict the outcome of the election. Pollsters know that polls are intended solely to indicate the preferences of voters during the time period in which the poll was taken (i.e., a snapshot). Thus, Gallup is pissed at Nate Silver because he is saying that they are wrong about the outcome of the election. But that is not the purpose of the Gallup poll--the purpose of the Gallup is to provide regular snapshots of voter preferences over the course of the election. Gallup and the other polls leave it to others to use this data to make conclusions and predictions.