Polls: Fact or Fiction?

Gary Nodler released a poll on May 13 that stated he was in the lead by 3 points with 29%. Here are the results of the entire poll done by Wilson Research strategies and paid for by Nodler:

Nodler – 29%
Jack Goodman – 26%
Billy Long – 24%
Darrell Moore – 11%
All others – 11% (note that undecided voters were not considered)

But a poll released by Michael Wardell on May 1 shows a different story:

Goodman - 11%
Nodler - 8%
Wardell - 7%
Long - 6%
Moore - 5%
Wisdom - 3%
Moon - 1%
Und - 59%

Two points are to be made about this information.

#1- Polls done by candidates are not always guaranteed to be perfect. Until an independent source runs a survey, we will not know which candidate is the front runner. And even then, remember that polls are NOT definitive.

#2- Campaigns often use polls as a tool to try to sway voters, rather than merely to report the facts. The only poll that matters is the one that will be taken on August 3.

I will also note that some campaigns have been known to resort to tactics such as making anonymous comments on blogs and Web sites, attacking other candidates. This blog will continue to ignore those comments, rather than give them space and time.

Finally, it looks to me as though this race is a lot closer than some candidates would like it to be.