Jared Said:

If you are "for McCain" will the news polls discourage you from voting?

We Answered:

Nothing will EVER discourage me from voting.

I voted absentee when I was in college. I voted when I was pregnant. I voted when I had to take half a day off from work unpaid because the lines were so long. I voted with my three year old daughter who was in the midst of being potty trained (and I really appreciated all the very patient people in line behind me who kept letting us go to the bathroom and still keep our place in line!).

I believe that voting is my civic duty and I want to use my voice in our government.

And, polls are just polls. They can be easily manipulated. Polls results are not votes. Nothing is over until the last precinct closes on election day.

Derek Said:

What do you think would happen if voting results say McCain wins even though polls say otherwise?

We Answered:

they were fairly accurate in '00. Gore won the popular vote and Bush "stole" the vote in Florida and possibly Ohio.

There will be MANY challenges to the vote in many states this time. We may not know who is president for weeks.

Marie Said:

Are states going to be releasing running totals of pre-Election Day vote results?

We Answered:

Nowadays, there should be no one in position to hide anything the public should know. Like election results, it's open for public. An I think that would not happen in America as it's not the popularity that counts more but the electoral votes. And as we have observed, right from the start, the candidates are being followed by reporters as they are the hottest scopes. And with our advance technology, it's impossible to hide anything like this. In fact, there are a lot of companies doing surveys like Rasmussen which you can find here:
http://www.rasmussenreports.com/public_c…

The yahoo! election 2008 and other firms doing the daily surveys.

April Said:

How do poll results affect voting?

We Answered:

the individual ratings are much more important than the group ratings.

this is where the president is unique--he is the only one who really gets his own rating, the supreme court, military, and congress are all lumped together as a whole. the president bears full responsibility.

a low rating for the president now doesn't translate to a democratic victory. far from it--it translates to "at least bush isn't running again."

surely, the democrats know this but they're still trying to milk it for all it's worth.

as for low ratings elsewhere, in congress, etc. a representative who is not serving his constituents will have a much harder time in the election. however, being a political incumbent is one of the most secure jobs you can have--it's damn near impossible to beat someone out.

a challenger will wait until the time is right, not riding only on polls.

so it could have a devastating effect on congress, but probably not much of one in the presidential race.

Constance Said:

Is it true that a Masterdebater always polls higher using old manual voting vs electronic voting?

We Answered:

Saw the same things, except that Hillary is actually more popular among the poor and less educated. Seems the media can't get it right. No surprise there. They'll be working on this and blowing it for months, just like they blew the analysis of the polls.
Zogby was on the Daily Show last night and he claimed the polls showed that over 20% who selected a candidate also said they could still change their mind ("soft" support), and that the media knew this but didn't take it into account. Who knows??????????

Note to Rabblerouser: The N Hampshire electronic voting machines produce an auditable paper trail.

Philip Said:

How are the voting results leaning? Any polls closed yet?

We Answered:

Projected Obama win 333 to 141

Only needs 270

Final 349 Obama
147 McCain