CNN grabbed a handful of undecided Iowa voters, gave them a rotary dial and threw them in a room during the Republican debate Wednesday.

If a candidate said something the voters liked, the voters would turn their knobs to the right, indicating a positive reaction. If a candidate said something the voters didn't like, the voters would turn their knobs to the left, indicating a negative reaction.

Then, CNN mashed the real-time responses with the video and fed it to us as news.

Check out the negative reaction to Alan Keyes.

Labels: media, politics, polls

It's been too long since we've talked about a crappy poll. Here's a new one.

Kids aged 2-12 think Britney Spears and Paris Hilton are more deserving of coal in their stockings than the Grinch and Darth Vader.

So, little kids think Britney and Paris are naughtier than two of the most evil fictional bad guys of all time? That's harsh. But, while Darth Vader slaughtered younglings, Paris covered their sabers in sores. That's a pretty even trade.

Besides, didn't you always wonder why Darth Vader's face was all eaten up? Mustache rides gone terribly wrong.

Labels: kids, movies, polls

I hate online polls (see here and here).

News broke this morning about the Royals hiring a new manager. So, they had to throw up an online poll. Sadly, Americans are suckers for polls. In an hour and a half, 700 people jumped at the opportunity to cast their meaningless vote.


I can no longer blame media outlets for putting up online polls. Polls drive traffic to websites. We need to focus our efforts on the people who click on these things, justifying their existence.

Labels: kansas city royals, polls, sports, this is america