Revisited: The problem with polls. In September I did a story for the Tribune on the peril of polls in the age of caller ID. Last Friday the Wall Street Journal ran a similar story on its front page about polls gone wrong from the past week's election. The NY Times' Adam Nagourney took on the topic on Election Day.

I got the idea from this William Safire column, but the authoritative article on the topic was penned by the Boston Globe in 2000.

The point is becoming clear: be very wary of what pollsters claim is the conventional wisdom, and don't let them drag down the democratic process--go vote no matter what the spread is.