Pitfalls of Polling

NBC's televised segment "The First National Referendum-Government Reform" presented by Ross Perot was a well-orchestrated move on his part. Enticing viewers to fill out and mail in a survey expressing their feelings and/or opinions in my mind is a great way to solicit data for future references. This type of calling out gives a sense of power to the public. Giving them the opportunity to communicate their own personal views of what and how …

…a great leverage builder for a candidate to sponsor a TV program but will always fail in eliciting people's feelings on issues due to the fact that not everybody has a TV. And for those that do, how many of them will actually sit down to watch politics. In my opinion, this type of polling must be accompanied by other means other than on the air in order to reach the masses and be effective.