How many different polls are going to represent "the first time"? That's what the previously quoted polls said.
I wanted to show the clip of **** Morris on The Factor explaining exactly what I've argued, but it doesn't appear to be a video on the net. I guess it wasn't popular enough. I did find an excerpt from his website though. I'm not arguing for/against his personal opinion on the subject matter, but only the concept of how polls should be conducted.
[quote=http://www.********************************************** Associated Press has released a survey, taken on May 5-9, 2011 to measure public approval of Obama after the killing of Osama bin Laden. The poll purports to show that the president’s job approval has soared to 60 percent. Don’t you believe it.
The AP sample contains twice as many Democrats as Republicans (35% Democrat vs. 18% Republican). While party identification is, itself, a variable to be determined by polling, the normal sample usually contains an approximately equal number of Democrats and Republicans. Lately, Republicans have actually been slightly in the plurality in most statistically valid samples.
This AP poll — with its 2:1 Democratic edge — is utter hogwash.
Even by the standards of AP’s previous polls, this sample doesn’t stand up. It is vastly more Democratic than any of the organization’s recent polls:
PARTY IDENTIFICATION IN AP POLLS
Democrat Republican
October, 2010 32% 25%
November, 2010 29% 24%
January, 2011 28% 25%
March, 2011 29% 20%
May, 2011 35% 18%
Of course, all of these AP polls reflect a decided pro-Democrat bias compared to most national survey findings. The Associated Press needs to search its soul — and consult with its polling company — to determine if this bias can be corrected.[/quote]
So, you and your friends can believe all you want that any random 1000 people accurately represents the U.S., but you're either in denial or in delusion. I don't care what the majority believes in, just don't tell me they that the believe in something if they don't purely for agenda purposes.