I don't trust polls. Who are they polling? With the number of new voters this election cycle, those polls may not hold true. Obama was up last week, McCain is up this week. Next week the polls will have them tied.

It seems like a lot of cherry picking of certain groups to make a point. And while the rest of the world can't vote, I wouldn't dismiss what they think as 'doesn't matter'. We're not alone here.

I don't trust polls. It's the electoral college that matters. Ask Gore what happens when you win the popular vote.

Did the fix the polling system to incluce people who only use a cell phone? I thought I remember hearing that that made a huge difference in the polls of 04.

I think it would be wise not to pay too much attention to polls. Just in briefly glancing over some articles and commentary dealing with the latest polls today, I've noticed that, as steph said, a lot of cherry picking was going on. For instance, certain polls polled significantly more Republicans than Democrats, despite greater Democratic self-identification among voters.

I'm at work, but will try to put up some quotes and links soon.

You know I've listened to the fervor over convention bouncing since the conventions have ended and IMO the fact of the matter is in a tight race a convention bounce is irrelevant while we've still got the debates ahead of us. The debates are going to be the trend setters in this election not the conventions.

Who the hell knows?

Exactly rac. We won't know anything until Election Day.

One thing we can all agree on, is that this is going to be a close race! Everyone buckle your seat belts.

Any woman that choses to vote for mccain simply because he chose palin is an idiot. I'm sorry, that's just how I feel. Especially if that woman voter was a Clinton supporter, because Clinton and Palin could not be more different ideologically and politically.

Please please please let Obama win...

The Palin glamour will wear off soon enough.

Your political expertise tells you this? Why can't you see that some people just simple think differently and believe differently than you do? This is going to be a close race. Belittling people because they choose to back a certain candidate, or saying they are under a spell of glamour is immature at best.

The Palin glamour will wear off soon enough.

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Once she starts talking

they are under a spell of glamour is immature at best.

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Pot meet kettle -- haven't the Rupubs been saying Obama supporters were "devoted followers" - actually Palin said that in her speech.

There's always a bounce after a convention. As for the polls, they have skewed Republican so of course McCain is going to be ahead.

One more thing: remember the primaries? Pollsters lost all credibility in my eyes after that. I trust them as far as I can throw them and I wouldn't hold my breath.

Must have polled all of Alaska

I don't trust polls. Didn't the polls in New Hampshire during the primaries have Obama beating Clinton?
I did expect McCain to have a bounce but I think it is because people want to support Palin, not necessarily McCain.

Carter had a HUGE bounce -- then lost.

i dont trust polls hell we got bush for 8 years how the hell did that happen, florida anyone for starters

so off sorry

will be cool to see when everybody's voted on the poll.

I don't really hold the polls in high esteem, either. Barring a major faux pas from McCain or Obama, I have a feeling this will be a close race to the end.

i'm kind of undecided on this one. i think that there's been a lot of chatter about the VP race now and i think that it has some impact on the overall ratings for obama and mcain. i wonder if it'll last - and i guess that we'll only find out through the campaign itself and see how the debates go.

I think it is just a trend. I agree GS it is going to be a very close race!!

I think we'll see a bounce or a shift after the debates and a few more Palin interview and the ethics probe decision -- I mean there's a lot there on Palin.

Please what was immature about what I said? Really??? The same thing happened to Obama, he was new and the excitement wore off a bit. Sensitive much???????????

I am worried. Worried about the supposedly independent women who are trending towards Palin, and they have no idea about her politics.

Hillary is the kingmaker here. She has to come out with both fists flying, to educate her "supporters" about the huge chasm between herself and Palin.
If she does that she will be the savior of her party and her ideology, and will have the undying respect and love of many persons.

Yup -I remember republicans calling those who preferred obama to be "worshipping" him without actually caring about his policies. Or those of us who voted for Clinton as caring only because she is a woman. Honestly, I highly doubt that and think it is just the usual game of politics not based on anything. I would like to find out who exactly is a Clinton voter that seriously would vote for Palin because she is a woman. I find that hard to believe. As far as I can see, people who favor one party tend to stick with their candidate. It is just as ridiculous to think that McCain voters would switch to voting for Obama because Obama picked a white male.

Here's the tentative debate schedule. Let's see how things bounce after these dates:

General Election (2008 tentative dates)
October 15, 2008 Presidential Debate in Hempstead, New York
October 7, 2008 Presidential Debate in Nashville, TN
September 26, 2008 Presidential Debate in Oxford, Mississippi
October 2, 2008 Vice-Presidential Debate in St. Louis, Missouri

There's problems with polling because of the times pollsters call and who participates in them, so I don't trust them.

janneth you are right! lets email hillary and beg her to do this. i'm serious. im going to do it right now.

Dream:
"Pot meet kettle -- haven't the Rupubs been saying Obama supporters were "devoted followers" - actually Palin said that in her speech."

How is saying something repubs have done have anything to do with me? Had you been a poster here for more than two weeks you would know that I am not republican. I just dislike Obama to the marrow.

i just don't understand why there is even question about who should win. America (especially the crucial mid-west) needs to realize that if mccain is elected it won't be the rich who are paying more, it will be them! Our economy is failing and there really is only one choice...obama.

"I am worried. Worried about the supposedly independent women who are trending towards Palin, and they have no idea about her politics."

Janneth, how would you even begin to know what motivates people you have never met? Let alone whether they "have no idea" about her politics?

Vic...? Please explain that logic with actual data and facts.

Vic, that made no sense at all!

i totally understand what vic is saying. i know 3 midwesterners who are going to vote for mc/palin because they are worried about the taxes. they are far from rich and they don't understand.

GS i think janneth was pretty clear. she said she was freaked by the women who would be voting for palin only because she's a woman without knowing her politics. sarah palin is the antithesis of hillary clinton. they are literally polar opposites.

for instance (and with all due respect), i find your icon to be incredibly ironic and borderline offensive because you are invoking an icon that represents american women who came to the rescue of our country in a time of need - not from nowhere, with zero experience, very little knowledge of the task at hand, and with religious and corporate interests in their back pockets (like sarah palin), but with determination and spirit. i've seen the same iconic image with nancy pelosi's face pasted on it, and that pissed me off just as much - sure being the first female speaker is momentous - but she certainly doesn't make me proud as woman. she brought NOTHING new to the table as a woman.

so do you really think sarah palin exemplifies the theme of that image? really? because i think she's a political toy that's being dangled in the face of people who vote on emotion alone ( read: religion, morals, guns, and dogged party devotion), and the fact that she could be the first female VP based on this makes me incredibly sad for women.

off my soap box now.

"ten billion dollars each month".
what more can you say?

Voting for gun rights is not an "emotion alone" issue.

Furthermore, there are people on both sides who use emotion and morality to decide their candidate. For example, those who think it's only moral to give health care to everybody.

It's not an emotion issue, really?
Now, here is what I like about this. I can engage people in conversation that I do not agree with, to try to understand their perspective...and I am not being sarcastic one bit.

"not from nowhere, with zero experience, very little knowledge of the task at hand" I think you need to review your history. That's getting to be a recurring theme here.

I vote on emotion alone. That's how I usually end up voting democratic. (read: abortion, gay marriage, socialism)

Surely emotions are involved, but the debate is based on far more than emotions and morals.

Janneth, how would you even begin to know what motivates people you have never met? Let alone whether they "have no idea" about her politics?

I think someone's political identity says a lot about them, so she may be "judging" people she's never met but she does know they're most likely democrats if going for Hillary and their general opinions on things are a stark contrast to republican's (especially Palin's) general opinions on things.

sure it is. you say 'im going to take your gun away' and someone who wants to keep their gun says 'i'm mad now' and then they vote against you.

you could argue that abortion rights fall into the same category. ill be the first to admit that i have an emotional response to the threat of abortion being made illegal. but here's the thing... i support obama, and would have supported hillary, not only because they also want to keep abortions safe and legal, but because i believe in the other policies they have advocated. their economic plans, their opinions on health care, social security, and the war. what scares me are people who vote on these 'gays god and guns' issues every 4 years, even when their party will do absolutely nothing to change things if they ARE elected (read: bush throwing abortion and gay marriage into the ring in 2004, etc.). sarah palin has no other policies to speak of. she's an empty shell.

Plus, unfortunately I am talking about several women I do know...

"sure it is. you say 'im going to take your gun away' and someone who wants to keep their gun says 'i'm mad now' and then they vote against you"

How is that voting on emotion? That's voting on principle. I have the right to a gun, and I'll vote against anybody who doesn't support that right. It has nothing to do with being 'mad'.