POLL EXPOSED – AT 10:33 A.M. ET:  This is excellent journalism – breaking down the internals of a recent poll just to show how phrasing the questions can dramatically change the result.  From Dailywire: 

A new survey from NBC News/Wall Street Journal is the perfect example of the utter worthlessness of public polling as it relates to the implementation of government policy.

In the poll, which covers numerous political topics, one question stands out: “Would you favor or oppose a single-payer health care system in which all Americans would get their health insurance from one government plan that is financed by Taxes?”

To this question, 47% said they “favored” such a system, 46% said they “opposed,” and 7% said they were “not sure.” However, when pollsters added a bit of specificity to the question, the results changed rather dramatically.

To those who said they favored a single-payer health care system, a follow-up question was asked: “And, if you learned that virtually all health care costs would be covered, but it would eliminate employer-provided health plans and there would be only one government plan, would you favor or oppose a single-payer health care system?”

This more specified question changed the results by more than ten points. The final results are as follows: 36% said they would “favor” a single-payer plan, 55% said they would “oppose,” and 9% were “not sure.”

COMMENT:  Definitely read the rest of this excellent piece, then look at polling more skeptically.  We note that Donald Trump was hovering at about 40% in the polls on election day.  Obviously, pollsters were missing something.   They often miss something, as the late President Dewey might have told us.

September 22, 2017