Polls And Such.

       This morning I listened to some Republican spokespersons claim that 70% of Americans are dissatisfied with the way our country is going. A little bit later I read that President Obama has the highest rating, at 54% approval for a second term. So, now, let me see if I understand these polls. Obama has 54% approval, 70% think the country is going in wrong direction.
       I think I understand how polls work now. Over half of Americans think Obama is doing a great job of leading the country in the wrong direction, according to 70% of the people. No, wait, I think its 70% think that 54% are wrong. Well at least we now have 124% of the population agreeing to disagree.
       Think back to the Republican Convention. As soon as it was over Trump was ahead in the polls, but as soon as the Democratic Convention was over a week later, Clinton was in the lead. I used to have a yoyo. I wasn't great at using that yoyo, but I think using a yoyo is good training for figuring out how polls work. Except that polls are supposed to reflect how people think about the campaigns. Which makes perfect sense, because people don't seem to know how they feel about the candidates and that sentiment is reflected in the polls. The one good thing is that we're up to 124%.
       For real honest opinions of how the campaign is going, all you have to do is ask the campaign manager form each party and you'll get the straight scoop. They'll each tell you confidentially their candidate is slightly ahead. That is to say that each candidate has over 50% of the voters in their camp. Now if you wonder how each candidate can have over 50% of the voters, you weren't paying attention when I explained the 124% figure.