Polls no longer reliable, Dick Morris
Two reasons:
In 28 states, the state legislatures have passed laws giving telephone users the right to opt out of receiving telemarketing phone calls, including public opinion surveys. More and more voters are availing themselves of this right and the pickings for telephone polling firms are getting more and more scarce.
Even beyond the formal opt-out which makes it illegal to call certain voters when taking public opinion polls, the “hang up” factor is looming larger and larger in telephone polling.
Indeed, I have friends who NEVER answer their home phone, letting the machine take the call instead. Others simply aren’t home much during the 6-9 PM calling time of most polls, or their primary phone is their cell, not their landline. And I’ve never gotten a poll or telemarketer on my cell phone, have you?
So, phone polling would appear to be taken on those who 1) are home and answer their landline phone, 2) don’t immediately hang up. This is already a considerable smaller universe than a truly random sample would allow.