These poll numbers crumble like cookies

By Jeff Hutton, Courier associate editor

July 14, 2008 01:14 pm

— OTTUMWA — I don’t put a lot of stock in poll numbers, especially 3 1/2 months before Election Day.
But what’s more ridiculous is the type of polling that’s being conducted.
Take for example, the recent hard-hitting poll about who do pet owners prefer — McCain or Obama. According to an Associated Press/Yahoo News survey, McCain edges Obama 42 percent-37 percent.
Apparently because Obama and his family do not own a pet, they are somehow less responsible, at least according to some of the survey participants.
But if you factor in the 2.3 percent margin or error, and there’s always a margin of error, these poll numbers don’t add up to anything more than a bowl of kibble.
Take yet another poll among those who do not own pets — surprise — Obama wins 48 percent-34 percent over McCain. The suggestion is that if you have a pet, you don’t have enough time to worry about things, like oh, I don’t know, the economy.
This is the just the beginning.
There of course is the cookie controversy.
When asked, the candidates’ wives submitted their “favorite” cookie recipes — and God help us — Cindy McCain’s recipe for oatmeal butterscotch cookies may of originated with hersheys.com.
And apparently Michelle Obama’s shortbread cookie featuring amaretto and orange zest falls short by some taste aficionados.
They claim, via the many cookie blogs out there, that the two women should have just stuck with chocolate chip because previous winners always went with that American original.
Poll numbers, even legitimate surveys that ask more substantive questions, don’t mean much, or at least they shouldn’t.
It’s easy to be caught up in all the numbers, the analysis and the pundits who have nothing else to do but decipher what it all means.
It’s only July and there will be plenty of new polls yet to come.
And I guarantee, when you’re marking your ballot, recipes or whether or not a candidate’s dog’s name is “Fido,” will mean absolutely nothing in November.
Jeff Hutton is the Courier’s associate editor. He can be reached at (641) 683-5380 or via e-mail at: jeff@ottumwacourier.com.

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