While the polls produce a string of precise numbers, they obscure the hard fact that the vast majority of Americans are astonishingly ignorant about politics, a classic cry for help, the poll numbers represent a momentary spasm of political will, without the need for deliberation
American opinion polls are not a reflection of citizens' rational thinking, but an effective tool for achieving political goals.
 Moreover, polls are a much more effective form of shouting because they seem to replace the visual image of mass hysteria with the sober, rational findings of a serious social science