Even though the election was two weeks ago, it is still being played out because of the recounts, lawsuits and runoffs. But I want to say a word about polling which is a particular interest of mine.
When I was getting my journalism degree, I took a course on polling and I found it fascinating. I love reading about polls and participating in them. Any kind of poll, not just election polls.
I even do informal polling on my social media. For instance “if these four foods were in front of you and you could only eat one, which one would you choose.” Because I’m silly like that. But I think my friends enjoy polls too because I always get lots of responses even if they are non-scientific and mindless fun.
Real polling is a science. There are no opinions or guessing involved and that’s what I like about it.
In the 2016 election the polls seemed to get it wrong and that really bothered me because I’m such a fan of polling. In truth they were not as wrong as they appeared to be. No poll ever said Clinton was going to win with 100%. There was always a chance for Trump to win in every poll.
They did get some things wrong in that election but that was because there were so many undecided voters that year. Some folks even went to the voting booth still not knowing which candidate they were going to vote for. And if the voters don’t know, the polls can’t know either.
After the 2016 election, in hindsight, the pollsters knew what they got wrong. And because it is a science they took pains to make sure it didn’t happen again.
In this year’s election there were far fewer undecided voters. Most everyone knew who they were going to vote for long before they actually voted.
During this election I was still kind of worried and anxious about polling in general because of what happened in 2016. But I am happy to report that the polls got it right this year.
I took a snapshot on Nov. 2—the day before election day when all polling ended— from a polling group I like which lists all polls and then takes an average of them.
There is a polling group called Election Projection who was only off by one electoral college vote. They called it for Biden at 307 to 231. The actual number was 306 to 232. That’s pretty close, and this group now has all the poll bragging rights until the next election.
Unless something drastic happens – which is still a possibility – the polls were right and we can all trust them again. And that makes me happy.
COVID-19 cases are on the rise all over the US, and Milam County is no exception. I was in a store one day last week right here in Rockdale and I was the only person with a mask on.
This makes me mad. The pandemic is not over, people.
Not wearing a mask is very selfish. You could have the virus and not know it and pass it on to someone who is high risk.
I have a feeling we are going right back into lockdown mode and therefore back to square one. The same place we were in March. And the people not wearing masks will be the reason for the lockdowns.
Nobody wants lockdowns. No individual or business.
On Nov. 5 I was exposed to someone who caught the virus but didn’t know she had it that day. Luckily we were both wearing masks and I didn’t catch it.
Masks work. Wear them.
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