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Polling Sucks

Rick Perlstein · 21 Aug 2026

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Rick Perlstein did not write this page.

Every claim below was made in this piece, quoted word for word and numbered in the order the piece makes them, so you can read it there rather than take our word for it. The sentence above each quote is our reading of the claim, not their wording. Each quote was checked against a stored copy of the page at build time; where the two differ, the quote is the fact.

  1. Our reading

    The obsession with polling is politically, morally, and civically damaging.

    Their wordsthe obsession with polling itself--a novel development of the last several decades--is, itself, politically, morally, and civically damaging?

  2. Our reading

    Polling persists because it is therapeutic, profitable, and a source of material for manipulating public perception.

    Their wordsIn my judgement, it is (1) therapeutic, stanching existentailly paintful doubt about the future that is central to the human condition; (2) profitable (I need not say much), and (3) a useful source of grist for those seeking to manipulate public perception more generally

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