Political polling not helpful for voters

To the editor:

Political polling is a disservice to our democracy. It may be helpful for the candidates, but it is not helpful for voters. Poll results have become the news; not the issues; not problem solving solutions.

Count the number of times a poll is mentioned in the news you read, watch or listen to for a week. It is a sizable chunk of the information content one is exposed to. Are your political views changed by hearing poll results? What about people who pay little attention to the pros and cons of issues, but are swayed by what is reported by poll respondents rather than thinking for themselves?

John Milton said that a well-informed electorate will ultimately make right decisions regarding their governing; he did not say people who are swayed by political polls will make the right decisions. If candidates want to continue polling to assess how their candidates are being received, I'm fine with that. But use the information internally. The media should not pass the poll results along as news with the current frequencies, in my opinion.

Larry Edwards

Marion