I recently found out that I do not support Ron Paul...as far as pollsters are concerned.
usaelections.com recently spoke to the CEO of one of the polling companies. The pollster told him that there were certain filters used to get that "likely republican voters" stamp of approval.
One is that the voter had to have voted before. So if you've been pissed off at the government and haven't wanted to fall into their game of "lesser of two evil" voting you cannot show your support for Ron Paul in the polls.
Another is he must ignore those that were never eligible to vote before (18-21). So the huge group of young voters who have been flooding YouTube and every other sector of the Internet usually used by younger voters (Including those excited 16-17 year olds that will be 18 by Nov 5, 2008) cannot show their support for Ron Paul.
And then there is the HUGE filter where those who have just recently switched cannot be polled. I fall into that category, though I lived in Georgia where we just choose which primary we want to vote in, then we vote in it so I can't say I was part of either the Republican or Democrat party. I was a member of the Libertarian Party, I voted in each of those state primaries at our state convention, and then when the primaries came along I usually picked the party that I wanted to vote in (though most often that was the Republican primary). I just moved to Texas so I have definitely not voted Republican in any Texas elections. As for the last presidential election and every one before it...my vote went to the Libertarian.
So even though I work my back out trying to get Ron Paul elected, going to our meetup group events, volunteering for the Ron Paul fundraiser, donating money, writing articles, putting up a sign in my yard, and on my car, joined thousands of cheering Spurs fans downtown San Antonio holding up a Ron Paul sign shouting my support, if I were to get a call on my landline (yes I actually do have one) from a pollster asking about who I support for the presidential election, my support of Ron Paul would be quietly swept aside in their poll because of their filters.
The national polls reflect those old school Republicans who voted in the last election. They reflect the very people who gave us what we have now. No wonder Guiliani, Fred Thompson and John McCain grace their top ranks while Ron Paul still sits low in the 2-3% range. The only way we'll go up in those polls is if we convert a bunch of neo-cons. That doesn't seem like a fight worth the effort just to get some poll numbers.
It's too bad the pollsters don't factor in those that have never voted in their life but are inspired enough this time around to walk into the voting booth. It's too bad they don't factor in the youth who are never going to see their social security money and who just got socked with paying for old people's prescription medicine under these high polled Republicans. It's too bad they don't factor in those who have embraced technology and have ditched the old technology of the landline phone and only use cell phones (yes I have a cell phone, my landline is for work). It's too bad that they don't factor in the fact that a bunch of these old school, landline using Republicans will either be too senile by November 2008 or they'll have died off before they have a chance to vote for their favorite neo-con.
Either way, the sooner we realize that the effort to get those poll numbers up is not worth it and keep our focus on bringing in the new Republicans, the Ron Paul Republicans, the sooner we will have an army of voters in the primaries that will leave all pollsters scratching their heads wondering where they went wrong.
The old media worships those polls, and with it those old voters that have gotten us where we are today. Let them worship them to their own demise. Let us embrace the new media and all the truth that it provides, and together we will give them a primary they'll never forget.
