When Polling Was Private

By Robin Itzler

Editor's Note:  This is one of the commentaries selected from Robin's weekly newsletter Patriot Neighbors. Any cartoons appearing will have been added by me.  If you wish to get the full edition,   E-mail her at PatriotNeighbors@yahoo.com to get on her list, it's free.  RK

Presidential polls 

Throughout history politicians have always wanted to get a pulse on what their constituents are thinking. In our nation’s early years, President George Washington would constantly ask friends and acquaintances their views on issues.

He held weekly open house events, inviting the public to share their thoughts with him. It’s also known that if he was horseback riding through the countryside and encountered fellow Americans, Washington would ask their opinion on various issues. Politicians in the late 1700s and early 1800s also read letters to the press to learn popular sentiment.

When was the first poll of American voters taken prior to a presidential election?

According to Jonathan Stolz in “Presidential History: The Evolution of Presidential Election Polls,” the first political canvass was conducted during the 1824 presidential election.

Newspaper reporters from the “Harrisburg Pennsylvanian” interviewed citizens of nearby Wilmington, Delaware; they questioned them about their favorite candidates in an unscientific sampling called a “straw poll.” 

It derives its moniker from the suggestion that similar to a piece of straw tossed into the air, such a vote “shows which way the wind is blowing.” While the survey correctly tagged Andrew Jackson the winner of the popular vote, John Quincy Adams became president in a runoff of the electoral college ballots held in the House of Representatives.

Donald Trump likes to speak to “ordinary Americans” to better learn what issues concern them. During an interview, Trump said that the idea of not taxing tips came to him when he was talking to a waitress. She told him that taxing tips made it hard on her.