Is Traditional Polling Dying?

Monmouth University President Patrick Leahy has announced that the university will be closing its polling center, a move that could signal the death of traditional political polling. This isn't surprising given the falling accuracy and low participation rate of political polls.

Political commentator and Newsmax TV contributor Jeffrey Lord says that, simply, Americans don't like political polls. He said, "There are plenty of Americans who either dislike polls, are suspicious of them, or don't want to discuss their voting choices."

He went on to say that polls are losing their place in the modern political world. The best example is when Trump first announced his candidacy in 2015, pollsters dismissed him as crazy.

Even as recently as 2024, politicos and pollsters were certain that Kamala Harris would win the presidency. As Harris's prospects worsened, they began predicting a close race. As we now know, Donald Trump went on to win a landslide victory. Now, they seem to have lost all credibility.

That could create a problem for both political candidates running campaigns and for office holders looking for data on different political issues. Lord thinks social media could fill that gap. He said, "There's been successive waves of how technology works in terms of politics, and it does have an impact and make a difference."

Lord added that in recent years, far too much credibility and weight have been given to political pollsters, and now the reality that they're obsolete is starting to catch up with them.